Jake Paul Earns New Respect in Boxing with Victory Over Woodley in Cleveland (PHOTOS)

Jake Paul continued to earn respect in professional boxing with his split decision victory over UFC Hall of Famer Tyron Woodley over the weekend.

Paul, the 24 year-old YouTube star-turned-pro boxer, was the hometown hero, fighting in front of a sellout crowd of 16,000 at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse in Cleveland.

In the eight-round main event at a contracted 190-pound weight limit, Paul landed 71 punches to 52 for Woodley, including a 22-6 edge in body shots. Paul also absorbed some thunderous punches from Woodley, the former UFC champion.

Paul hit Woodley with some powerful punches of his own—and improved to 4-0 as a professional boxer.

Two judges scored the fight for Paul by 77-75 and 78-74, while a third scored the fight 77-75 in Woodley’s favor.

After the fight, Paul was complementary of his opponent.

“I don’t know what to say, he’s a tough opponent,” Paul said. “He’s been doing this for 20 years. I’ve been doing it for three. It was tougher than I expected. He put up a good fight. He’s a good boxer. I have nothing but respect for him.”

Woodley, 39, maintained that he won the fight and would like a rematch.

“I feel like I won the fight,” Woodley told reporters. “I feel like Jake is a great opponent. I came in great shape because I knew he could take a punch. No disrespect but fuck the [Tommy] Fury fight, Jake and I can run it back. Nobody is going to sell a PPV like we did. I felt like he was tough. I hit him and the ropes held him up.”

“I don’t know what to say, he’s a tough opponent,” Paul said.

The fight was produced by Showtime and available on a pay-per-view basis for $59.99.

Paul seemed cool on the idea of an immediate rematch with Woodley after 18 consecutive months of boxing.

However, Paul did say he would give Woodley a rematch if he got a “I love Jake Paul” tattoo in the locker room that he’d promised to get before the fight if he lost.

There were also a number of celebrities, fighters and Olympians on hand to watch to the fight, including Ohio-native Dave Chappelle, Dustin Poirier, Andre Berto.

See photos from the Jake Paul versus Woodley fight below:

Photos from Getty/Showtime