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'Holding It Down for the Hoopers': NBA, NFL Players React to Deron Williams's Victory Over Frank Gore

It was a thrilling fight featuring two former stars of the NBA and NFL.

Ben Pickman

'Holding It Down for the Hoopers': NBA, NFL Players React to Deron Williams's Victory Over Frank Gore
'Holding It Down for the Hoopers': NBA, NFL Players React to Deron Williams's Victory Over Frank Gore /

Three-time NBA All-Star Deron Williams defeated five-time Pro Bowler Frank Gore on Saturday night in a split-decision boxing match. 

"I never shied away from contact, and I showed that today," Williams said after the bout. "People think basketball players are soft, but I never was one. That's what I was looking to accomplish here today."

The fight was scored 38–37, 37–38 and 40–35, with Williams outlasting Gore over four rounds. The former Jazz and Nets guard landed nine more punches than Gore, per CompuBox, and seven more power punches. 

One of those punches eventually resulted in Gore becoming a meme for his reaction to taking one of Williams's punches.

Gore praised Williams after the bout and said he's "going to go back and talk with my team to see what I've got to learn" before making another fight decision. 

Williams, however, made it seem like Saturday's fight will be his lone contest.

“Originally I didn't think boxing was a way to do it because this celebrity boxing thing wasn't really a thing until the last year and a half, two years when the Paul brothers kind of made it popular," Williams told Sports Illustrated's Chris Mannix prior to the bout. "I'm just looking at it as I'm fighting Frank Gore on Dec. 18, and then you probably won't hear from me for a while again.”

The fight sparked an intense reaction from those around the sports world, specifically from current and former NBA and NFL players. 

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Ben Pickman
BEN PICKMAN

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