SPORTS UPDATE
At the age of 50, UFC Hall of Famer Anderson Silva is still creating viral moments in combat sports.
Silva (4-2, 3 KOs) continued his transition into professional boxing on Friday by stopping fellow former UFC champion Tyron Woodley (0-3, 0 KOs) in Round 2 of their cruiserweight bout inside the Kaseya Center in Miami. The scheduled six-round bout took place on the undercard of Jake Paul-Anthony Joshua.
In his first pro bout since losing a unanimous decision to Paul in 2022, Silva broke open a slow start by backing Woodley up to the ropes. After tapping his right foot with his glove, in a tribute to his boxing hero Roy Jones Jr., Silva followed up by feinting a left cross to bring up Woodley’s guard before uncorking a flush right uppercut from the southpaw stance.
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Silva followed up with a trio of short hooks to drop the 43-year-old Woodley, who lost a pair of fights to Paul in 2021, onto his face. Even though Woodley beat the count, he didn’t initially respond to referee Sam Burgos’ queue to walk out of the corner on his own power. That led to Burgos, after Silva reached in to touch gloves with Woodley as a form of sportsmanship, waving off the fight at 1:33 of Round 2 after Woodley’s corner stopped the bout.
“I have young kids [in training camp] to push me hard every day,” Silva said. “The guys kicked my ass in training and I came here and did my best. I’m so happy to be here and continuing doing something I love. This is amazing. I just tried to take my time and my distance. I’m lucky, but lucky is the people training hard. And I’m lucky.”
The stoppage win was yet another impressive performance inside the boxing ring for the ageless Silva following the conclusion of his legendary MMA career. In 2021, Silva upset former world titleholder Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. by split decision before knocking out MMA legend Tito Ortiz in the opening round three months later.
Silva, who revealed he will be entering the police academy in Beverly Hills, California, in his way of “giving back to the United States,” said after the fight that he would continue his boxing career. Silva, who was originally scheduled to face former MMA rival Chris Weidman until an arm injury forced his withdrawal and Woodley’s late addition, called for another chance at Weidman after losing both middleweight title bouts against him in UFC.
“No, that’s not my last fight. I keep working and I keep doing something hard. Let’s see for the next event with Most Valuable Promotions. Let’s see,” Silva said. “Chris, I know you hurt your arm, bro. I am awaiting for you to stay better. Let’s go show how the ex-UFC fighters can do a good job in boxing. Let’s respect the boxing community, that’s more important.”
Woodley, a former UFC welterweight champion, remained winless in boxing and suffered his second knockout in three fights.
“Obviously, I’m used to MMA where we go out on our shield,” Woodley said. “I was yelling at my coach but he made the right call [to stop the fight].”
