This past weekend, over 60 million households tuned into watch Viner-turned-Youtuber-turned-boxer Jake Paul beat up an old man.
Yes, I know that old man is former heavyweight champion Mike Tyson. I know he’s only 58. But we’ve been following Iron Mike for almost 40 years now… That brain and body are a bit more muddled than the standard 58.
It was only the latest in a series of “boxing” bouts designed to do little more than gather as much cash as possible. There’s no chance this was ever a serious fight, and Paul and Tyson were always going the distance. It was predictably tentative, boring, and… friendly. Nothing like the sort of fights I’d prefer.
I mean, just listen to Paul himself talk about the fight afterwards. He had no intention of coming close to knocking Tyson out:
I know what Paul’s fans are saying: “Everyone’s a winner!” Sure, most people are winners here. Paul gets to say he beat Mike Tyson in the ring. Tyson gets a huge payday and a return to the spotlight. Jerry Jones gets to host a massive cultural event at his place. Even Netflix got in on the action this time around. At least I didn’t have to blow $60+ on a DAZN stream. Heck, even I’m a winner! I got riled up enough to revive this blog!
But one group of people, the biggest group, loses: the fans. We sat and watched a 4.5 hour stream, Netflix technical issues included, all for one of the most boring main events in history.
In fairness, Paul gave a massive platform to some badass fights earlier in the night. Shoutout to Amanda Serrano for an incredible performance, and to Mario Barrios and Abel Ramos for putting on an absolute war. If Paul is going to make more efforts to showcase some of these types of bouts, I start to support this endeavor a bit more.
However, Paul can say he’s in this for the good of the sport all he wants. We all know this is really about money and exposure and not much else.
His fight history proves it.
In January 2020, Paul knocked out AnEsonGib, a fellow YouTuber looking to start a boxing grift. I guess the winner earned the right to carry out this entire project. The fight was included in the $19.99 monthly or $99.99 annual DAZN subscription, and after the first-round TKO, Paul netted a guarantee worth roughly $1 million on top of undisclosed bonuses.
Fight one – Not a serious opponent.
Later in 2020, during the height of the pandemic, Paul faced ex-NBA player Nate Robinson as the chief support fight, ironically, to Mike Tyson’s exhibition against Roy Jones Jr. That pay-per-view was available for $50 through FITE.tv, and Paul easily knocked out Robinson in the second round. Robinson, famously short for his profession, was 4 inches shy and 13 years older than his opponent, AND had never fought professionally. Paul’s guarantee for the fight was only $600, but he’s estimated to have cleared around $1.2 million in bonuses.
Fight two – Not a serious opponent.
Next up was ex-MMA fighter Ben Askren in April 2021. Askren, best known for being on the receiving end of the fastest KO in UFC history, was at best a washed up, inexperienced boxer. It took Paul just under two minutes to knock him out, taking home a $675,000 purse, not including bonuses, in the process. Paul and DAZN claimed that the fight, as quick and uneventful as it was, did over 1.5 million PPV buys and $75 million in sales.
Fight three – Not a serious opponent.
Twice toward the tail end of COVID, Paul fought another ex-UFC star in Tyrone Woodley. 15 years older than Paul, Woodley was able to take Paul to a decision the first time around, but after stepping in for Tommy Fury on short notice, he was no match for the younger Paul. Paul supposedly netted over $4.5 million from the two fights, and it wasn’t much sweat off his back either.
You can start to see a pattern here. Sure, these opponents (mostly) have some sort of fighting experience, but they are all older, less athletic, and substantially non-threatening.
His wins include recognizable and impressive names such as Anderson Silva and Nate Diaz, but he hasn’t ever fought a top-tier boxer in a similar biological and athletic state.
Well, he did do it once. And he lost.
Tommy Fury, two years younger than Paul and a lifelong fighter, defeated Paul by split decision in early 2023. Even with nearly $4 million in prize money to ease the pain, the PR hit was enough to convince the Paul camp never to take a risk like that again.
Since the loss, Paul is 5-0 with wins over washed up UFC-ers Nate Diaz and Mike Perry, as well as aging boxers Andre August, Ryan Bourland, and most recently, Mike Tyson.
In all, Paul is 11-1 with one fight against a legitimately even opponent, which he lost. In that time, he’s made over $25 million just in fight purses, founded a multi-million-dollar promotion, and fronted the world’s largest streaming company’s entrance into live sports.
It’s not about boxing. It never was. It’s about putting on a show to maximize profit and minimize risk. This is boxing’s version of the Harlem Globetrotters. It’s peak WWE for terminally online Zoomers.
We’ve seen the movie 11 times now, and we still continue to give Paul’s fights bigger and bigger platforms. Why?
No, seriously. I’m asking. I don’t have an answer. If I did, I wouldn’t be going on and on about this.
What I do know is that the Paul camp’s strategy is clear: Most content creators out there aren’t getting in the boxing ring. And I will say, while his brother and others in his circle might throw hands purely for show, Jake might actually have a talent for boxing.
Who else would have the platform and reach to sell out AT&T Stadium, bring Mike Tyson out of retirement, and garner over 120 million streams on Netflix, all while training and preparing well enough to actually look competent once the bell rings?
It’s an impressive and elaborate hoodwink, but a hoodwink nonetheless.
Paul is fighting under the banner of Most Valuable Promotions, the boxing promotion he himself co-founded and co-owns. All the support and preliminary fights on the card are organized and produced by MVP. What better environment could there be for him to have a massive advantage? Because of the formidable marketing and promotional power orbiting Paul’s brand, any fighter, regardless of status or ability, will feel indebted to him simply for the opportunity.
Mentally, it’s got to be incredibly difficult to put that feeling aside. I’m not trying to suggest the fights are rigged, but Paul’s opponents are certainly put in an awkward position – awkward enough that it’s very hard to see him losing any future fights under the MVP banner.
Regardless, we’ve known since the Vine days that Jake Paul and his team possess some sort of spell… some sort of secret sauce over audiences around the world. It’s the reason why tens of millions of people were willing to view Friday’s Tyson fight not simply as a boxing bout, but a cultural phenomenon.
In the midst of football season, political news, and more, it’s all anyone was talking about all weekend. A boxing match. When was the last time that happened?
The Jake Paul media machine has simply roped millions of us into believing that these bouts are cultural events that cannot be missed. It’s not just about the fights. It’s about the entrances. It’s about the celebrities in attendance. It’s about the memes. You can’t convince me they didn’t stream Mike Tyson’s ass cheeks to the masses on purpose.
It’s a mirror of modern culture, which is why so many people gravitate toward it. And with that gravitation comes massive financial and cultural benefits for those with the pull.
It doesn’t matter if it’s real or fake, planned or staged. It’s culture. Jake Paul has captured that with his boxing foray. Ultimately, it’s forces and moments like these that will define an entire generation, for better… or for worse.