The latest celebrity boxing bout took place on Saturday night, as former NBA point guard Deron Williams and longtime NFL running back Frank Gore went toe-to-toe as one of the fights on the undercard for Jake Paul’s second bout against Tyron Woodley. By the time the four-round fight came to an end, Williams came out on top via split decision.
The two athletes were, as you could guess, not exactly the most polished fighters in the world, but both made clear they wanted to throw bombs and try to hunt a knockout from the jump. While neither dude was able to get the other to the mat with punches through the first two rounds, Gore did hit the deck due to a shove from Williams that sent him into the ropes and caused the fight to get temporarily paused while he took a moment to compose himself.
😳💥#GoreWilliams pic.twitter.com/l8ngy969Bx
— SHOWTIME Boxing (@ShowtimeBoxing) December 19, 2021
In round three, Williams was able to get a knockdown. He backed Gore into a corner and threw punches until he started to go down, and while he did not lay out on the mat, the referee believed Gore used the ropes to keep himself upright. The fight continued, though, and needed to go to the cards. Gore won one, 38-37, while Williams won the other two, 38-37 and 40-35. Williams landed 48 of his 156 punches (31 percent), while Gore landed 39 of 166 (23 percent).
.@DeronWilliams got Frank Gore's attention 👻#WilliamsGore #PaulWoodley pic.twitter.com/lIr5BqXE4k
— SHOWTIME Boxing (@ShowtimeBoxing) December 19, 2021
WHAT A FIGHT!@DeronWilliams takes down Frank Gore via split decision in a war 🔥#WilliamsGore | Order #PaulWoodley ➡️ https://t.co/K8evGXftD4 pic.twitter.com/0RVlVR2HMx
— SHOWTIME Boxing (@ShowtimeBoxing) December 19, 2021
There is some bad news for anyone who missed the fight: It sounds like a rematch will not happen, as Williams said after that he’s retiring with a peerless 1-0 record.
"I'm going to go sit my old ass down somewhere."@DeronWilliams 🤣#WilliamsGore #PaulWoodley pic.twitter.com/p3EvmOMM8d
— SHOWTIME Boxing (@ShowtimeBoxing) December 19, 2021
He can proudly say he accomplished his goal of not being Nate Robinson.