Mike Perry‘s return to the boxing ring didn’t go according to plan.
The “Pressure’s Off” Platinum
The former UFC fighter may have found his bread and butter in Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship (BKFC) but when it came to lacing up the big gloves for the second time in his pro boxing career, Perry’s tenacious fighting style wasn’t enough to beat Jake Paul in their matchup last weekend.
Paul’s power proved to be too much for Perry, knocking down “Platinum” on multiple occasions only for him to get back to his feet each time. Perry had his moments against Paul but after six rounds of action and a little stumble from Perry, the referee had seen enough – ruling it a TKO win for Paul.
“I was trying to be this number one guy,” Perry reflected on the loss on BS w/ Jake Paul. “When there’s weight classes and stuff, I was trying to be better than even Jon Jones and now I don’t have to be anymore. So, a little bit of pressure’s off and I can take my time, let my rib heal up.”
Paul Cracked Perry’s Rib Right Out Of The Gate
Looking back on the fight, Perry says Paul hurt him to the body early, cracking his rib in the opening 10 seconds, totally changing his trajectory and the way he fought over the next five rounds.
“In the first 10 seconds, that first punch you hit me with, you popped me. Because, look, I knew people were gonna be like, put your hands up, right? So, I come out, I got my hands up and my rib was wide open. You hit me in the rib. I was like, ‘f***, that’s it’. I put my hands down and you popped it right away. I fought through it…
“I expected to be hit in the body at some point, and it got it right out the way. Right in the first 10 seconds. I was like, ‘Ah, f***. Well, f*** putting my hands up now, I’m just gonna protect my body. My head can take it.”
Perry Was Trying To Get Paul To ‘Punch Himself Out’
Worried about his protecting his body, Paul punished Perry with punches to the head, which Perry was more than ready for – wanting the 27 year-old to gas himself out from his own output. But, knockdown after knockdown, it was apparent that this strategy wasn’t the right one on the night of the fight.
“Part of the game plan was for you to punch yourself out on me,” Perry continued. “How many times can I get up? I think I would keep getting up, but I didn’t anticipate the ring was a little bouncy. I didn’t anticipate when [the referee] asked me to move to my left that I kind of tripped in the ring a little bit, and I stumbled and that made him wave the fight off. I was trying to get Jake to punch himself out on me a little bit, get a little tired so I could try to let some flurries go. And also my punch count was low. I think my rib had a lot to do with that.
“There’s pieces I can take that I can be proud of,” Perry said of his performance and making it six rounds with the sizable Paul. “But, you know, I think it was fair and square. I had a moment or two in the third round where I thought I was able to get you a little bit, or you were even bleeding. I wanted to show you. There was a picture of your face and one of my punches landing, it was pretty close to looking like that chain that I got you…”
Prior to their fight, Perry had a custom chain with Jake Paul’s face (bloodied and all) getting punched by what looked to be a Platinum fist. Perry would give Paul the bling as a gift following his second pro boxing loss.
“I can’t be walking around, carrying a chain that I didn’t make happen,” Perry told Paul.
https://x.com/betr/status/1816508454057505212
