Boxing Match Called After Bloodied 'Jungleman' Takes Shot to Head
The boxing match in Southern California involving Dan "Jungleman" Cates ended in the second round without a winner after the poker star took what some called a cheap shot.
Ryan "Elf" Noel, a sports betting show host and avid sports bettor, stood face-to-face in the boxing ring at The Maybourne Beverly Hills against Cates. Both fighters were new to the sport of boxing and wanted to test their skills during a sanctioned match within the new Beverly Hills Fight Club. The match was a quickie.
Poker Player Takes a Cheap Shot
The packed crowd for the five-fight card on Thursday night included the controversial social media personality Andrew Tate, a former kickboxer. Many other boxing fans were in attendance to witness one of poker's all-time greats step into the ring for the first time. Jungleman, however, was a heavy underdog entering the fight.
Cates battled through the first round somehwat competively, although the round clearly went to Elf, before Elf threw what some deemed a cheap shot in the second round when he landed a haymaker to the side of Jungleman’s head against a defenseless fighter.
Both fighters had ended up on the ground following a tussle early in the second round. There appears to have been some confusion as to if the ref had announced "fight" after the fighters stood back up, which led to Cates not being in a fighting stance when Elf came across the ring and landed the questionable cheap shot.
Jungleman's face was bloodied and the ref decided the best move was to call off the fight. Elf was not disqualified, however, so neither fighter technically won and it was ruled a no contest.
Elf took issue with the no contest ruling, but the decision had been made and the fight was over. PokerNews learned that Jungleman suffered a concussion from the fight but was feeling fine.
Cates is a two-time World Series of Poker (WSOP) champion and recently took $15 million from Ossi "Monarch" Ketola in a heads-up poker match. He had floated the idea a few times of testing his fighting skills over the past few years. His first match ended in controversy. It's unlikely there will be a rematch.
