The Death of Boxing – The Jake Paul Effect
A little bit of time has passed since the debacle of a “fight” that happened between Mike Tyson and Jake Paul. That’s given us enough time to put things in perspective – and the perspective doesn’t look good from where we’re sitting. Most boxing fans thought that the “contest” between the YouTuber and the almost-sixty former world champion was destined to be a farce. In execution, it was even worse than we expected it to be – and the blame for that falls on the shoulders of both parties. Arguably, it falls on the shoulders of Mike Tyson more than Jake Paul. Paul is a self-confessed blowhard and attention seeker. Mike Tyson ought to have had more respect for the sport.
In the days after the match, Tyson confessed that he almost died in hospital during the summer. In later interviews, he’d admit that he took the fight for the money. That’s understandable. He earned $20m for his part in the soft sparring session that occurred in the ring, with neither man showing any real intention to throw a big punch, let alone look for the knockout that both had promised. Yet again, too many among the audience had fallen for the pre-fight WWE-style theatrics and promises of violence. You’d have thought that audiences would learn from their mistakes on that front after a while. Perhaps we never will.
For all his lack of effort and his mercenary attitude, Tyson isn’t our big problem. That’s why his name isn’t in the title of this article. The “real” Iron Mike Tyson ceased to be a thing long before he got in a ring with Jake Paul. Memories of his success in the 1980s and early 1990s help people to forget that he was a broken man by the end of the 90s and basically a punching bag by the early 00s, shipping losses to the likes of Danny Williams.
He’s also a money-making machine, lending his likeness to casino games like Mike Tyson Knockout, Mike Tyson Blackjack, and Mike Tyson Roulette. According to UK Sister Sites, which keeps its eyes on everything related to the world of online casino world, those games have seen a surge in popularity since the fight. We suspect the casinos make more money from the games than players do, just as those who paid to see Tyson fight Jake Paul turned out to be the losers on the night – far more so than Tyson himself. Taking the money and giving very little back is what we should have expected from Mike Tyson, but at least he won’t do it again. Jake Paul is a whole different problem.
Daniel Dubois and the Money Game
The real heavyweight champion of the boxing world is Oleksandr Usyk, who will defend his titles against Tyson Fury in a showdown for the ages just before Christmas. However, due to the unique way in which the various federations and commissions in the boxing world like to ruin things for fans, Usyk wasn’t able to hold onto the IBF version of the world title after winning it from Anthony Joshua. He didn’t face the IBF’s preferred challenger, so the IBF stripped him of the title, and their lightly-regarded version of the top prize is now around the waist of Britain’s Daniel Dubois. That’s important because Daniel Dubois reached out to Jake Paul after the match and offered to fight him.
Yes, you read that correctly. Dubois, nominally the heavyweight champion of the world, reached out to Jake Paul via direct message on social media and challenged him to a match. Jake Paul – a YouTuber, not a boxer – didn’t have to go chasing after the champ because the champ came chasing after him. Dubois isn’t just talking about an unsanctioned fight, either – he offered to put the championship on the line. That’s a recognised, legitimate boxing world championship, offered up as a prize to a man who’s never fought a world-class boxer purely because Dubois got a taste for money after his fight with Anthony Joshua and has his eyes on another big payday.
It would be bad enough if Dubois was the only world champion trying to get Jake Paul into the ring, but he isn’t. Artur Beterbiev, the undisputed light heavyweight champion of the world, has been in touch with Paul to offer the YouTuber a shot at all the gold. Nobody who knows anything about boxing thinks there’s a realistic prospect of Paul beating either man, but the fact that both Dubois and Beterbiev would rather fight Jake Paul than a legitimate challenger tells us that there’s something very wrong with the sport of boxing.
Cash is King
Perhaps we shouldn’t judge Dubois or Beterbiev too harshly. Boxing is a short (sometimes brutally short) career – one in which any trip into the ring could be your last. Dubois and Beterbiev are, at the end of the day, looking for the best possible financial outcome and security for their families. If they could pocket $10m or more by fighting Jake Paul, they’d be set up for life. Perhaps the real problem here is that boxers aren’t earning enough from the game, even at the top level, so they’re forced to take part in stunts like this. It’s just a shame that this is where the sport is in the mid-2020s.
The sad fact of the matter is that Jake Paul has now proven that he’s one of the biggest draws – if not the biggest – in all of boxing. This is a man who’s only ever fought one genuine professional boxer in his life – and this is Tommy Fury that we’re talking about, so we might be stretching the definition of ‘professional’ – and he lost. He’s better than your average YouTuber in the ring, but he isn’t and probably never will be a great boxer. Boxing’s biggest draw can barely box. What does that say about where this once-great sport is heading? We don’t know, but almost certainly nothing good.
