Is Influencer Boxing a Gimmick?

Floyd Mayweather vs Logan Paul was another faux-boxing match in which the legacy of the sport continues to be tarnished.

When you picture the sport of boxing, what comes to mind? For me, it’s as clear as day.

Two men stand in their respective corners. They glare at each other, prying for weaknesses; physical, perhaps, but most likely mental. As the staredown ensues, the fighters’ teams are getting them loose and giving them the confidence to defeat their opponent. “You got this, champ!” and “No one can beat you, killer!”

The arena around the boxing ring is electric; the stands are filled to the brim. Fans converse excitedly with their friends, all but drowned out by the surrounding madness, while sipping on a cold beer from the concession stand. Eyes dart from one fighter to the other, praying that whoever they placed a bet on gets the win.

The bell sounds off and both boxers hustle to meet each other at the center of the ring. They test each other a bit: a jab here, a hook there, an uppercut in between. Eventually, a type of a rhythm begins to form. Punches are being landed, others are getting dodged. A clinch, here, a clinch there.

Maybe one fighter starts to get the upper hand, but only for a round or two. That’s when the skill of the individual boxer begins to show. It’s like a dance, but with calculated violence dispersed throughout. The two men battle until noses are bloody, eyes are swollen and half-shut, and strength is replaced with stamina and courage.

There are only two things that can stop the fight: a knockout or time running out. The people in the stands want blood; to see their favored fighter come out with the triumphant win. More likely, the bell will ring with both boxers nigh unrecognizable, with ballooned faces and gashes oozing out various liquids. Judges will score which fighter did better and the winner will be announced.

That’s the boxing I know and love. It requires passion, determination, and pure grit. Who can go the distance and who has the power to fight through the pain to achieve victory?

The exhibition last night between Mayweather and Paul certainly went the distance, but lacked the fire and passion of a real boxing match. While some good punches were landed, there was never a moment of true excitement. It was as if both fighters were simply going through the motions.

I’ll summarize the fight for those who didn’t watch. Logan Paul fakes a jab, then dances around for a bit. He then throws a punch, which either slightly grazes Mayweather, is completely dodged, or lands into the waiting block of Floyd. Paul clinches with Mayweather to stall. Once the clinch is broken, Mayweather dances around, then lands one or two hits on Paul. Logan quickly clinches with Floyd so that he can’t get hit again. The cycle repeats until time runs out.

It was a boring fight by every standard. Logan Paul threw 217 punches, while only landing 28 of them. That translates to a 13% hit rate. By comparison, Floyd Mayweather threw 107 punches and landed 43 of them; a 40% hit rate. In total, 72 punches were landed in eight rounds of “boxing”.

This match was practically grappling practice for Logan Paul. He didn’t seem like a man who wanted to win or even box, but someone who just wanted the fight to be over. It wasn’t about boxing or competition to him; it was money and clout.

What’s clout, you might ask? The definition of clout is: influence or power, especially in politics or business. At the end of the day, that’s what this exhibition was for. It proved that celebrity “fighters” can promote a match against a professional opponent, generate a ton of hype around the event, and make astronomical amounts of money off of it.

This is becoming the new wave of boxing, slowly but surely. We saw it with the Jake Paul vs Ben Askren fight: a YouTube influencer knocks out a retired professional MMA fighter and reaps the rewards of both clout and money. In these new-wave matches, the influencer gets paid in clout, which results in more followers to their platform. These new followers result in a lot of money in the long term. Oh, yeah, they also get paid off of the revenue from the fight itself.

For the opponent of the influencer, a.k.a. the professional fighter, the money guaranteed from the fight is more than enough for them to play along until the cardio session is finished. In the case of last night’s match, Mayweather was guaranteed $10 million and 50 percent of pay-per-view buys. Paul was guaranteed $250,000 and 10 percent of pay-per-view buys. Mayweather and Paul claimed that they could make $100 million and $20 million, respectively. For what was the equivalent of a sparring match, both of the fighters were well compensated for their efforts. 

As Floyd Mayweather stated, he’s the best at “legalized bank robbing”. He knew going into this fight that it would be a breeze for him. At best, Mayweather might have given 75% effort of his true skill during the exhibition. The goal for Floyd was not to win, not to dominate, but to rake in as much money as possible.

I’m not saying that what Mayweather and Paul accomplished through this event is inherently bad; in fact, I applaud them for fooling so many people into handing over their money. Moreso, I’m concerned for the future of true boxing.

Who’s to say that with the success of these new style matches, more professional won’t simply dial-back their effort. If they could get paid millions of dollars through sparring, why would they want to fight for real? The implications of these bouts could lead to a dilution of true boxing talent; or worse, a degradation which becomes strictly influencer vs influencer boxing fights.

This match between Floyd “The Legend” vs Logan “The Maverick” was a farce since its inception. It was a gimmick in which fans believed they were going to witness an actual competition. Instead, this bout was nothing but eight rounds of entertainment, if you can call it that.

There’s no shame in that. I just ask that in the future, influencer vs professional matches will be upfront about their true nature. Don’t brand a fight as something that it isn’t. That is, unless you want to mock the sport that you claim to love and disappoint your fans entirely.

Then, by all means, keep the act going.