"He f**ked that up" - John McCarthy blasts "amateur" refereeing in Jake Paul vs. Tommy Fury clash
Jake Paul suffered his first professional loss against Tommy Fury at the Diriyah Arena in Saudi Arabia on February 26. 'The Problem Child' came up on the short side of a split decision after going toe-to-toe against the Englishman for eight rounds.
The third man in the ring, referee Hector Afu, came under scathing criticism for his heavy-handed approach in the fight. The WBC Referee of the Year stopped the clock on multiple occasions in addition to penalizing both fighters for relatively insignificant offenses.
According to former UFC referee John McCarthy, Afu looked like an amateur for the entire matchup. McCarthy recently said on the Weighing In podcast:
"It was embarrassing. You're acting like an amateur referee trying to do a professional fight. Before they get used to it, there's a difference in it. And man he f***ed that up. First of all the point deductions themselves, stop! You don't want to affect the fight if you don't have to and Jake Paul didn't do anything bad. Tommy Fury hit him in the back of the head...Sorry brother, if there was a bad point in this entire matchup, it was you. You really just overstepped what you needed to do."
Catch McCarthy's comments below:
Deontay Wilder blames referee for Jake Paul's loss against Tommy Fury
While Jake Paul put on a good showing defending Tommy Fury's onslaught as the fight progressed, 'The Problem Child' barely managed to land anything of his own. However, Paul landed the lone knockdown of the fight in the final round, which Fury managed to recover from soon enough.
Former world heavyweight champion Deontay Wilder believes 'The Problem Child' evened out the scorecards with his last-round knockdown. According to 'The Bronze Bomber,' the scorecards tilted away from Paul only due to the fifth-round point deduction, which he believes was "immature."
While Paul was penalized for holding the back of Fury's neck, Wilder believes there should have been multiple prior warnings. The 37-year-old told Fight Hub TV:
"I think Jake got that one. That referee, that was an immature taken. I think Jake Paul needed that knockdown and when he did it evened it out. I think he only gave it to Fury because of the point taken. It was an immature point, the referee is supposed to give him at least three warnings, he gave him no warnings, get out of here. I think so [Jake Paul should have won], I think so, with the knockdown he sealed it in, but it was a good scrap all the way through."
Catch Wilder's comments below: