Departing from the platform that earned him fame and notoriety puts distance between him and past allegations in a way his predecessors and peers haven’t been able to pull off. David Dobrik’s attempts at hosting have earned him small gigs, Shane Dawson’s documentary aspirations were overshadowed by controversy, Gabbie Hanna’s music career never really took off, and even beauty mogul–turned–yak farmer Jeffree Star still posts consistently to YouTube. Many have attempted revenue diversification through podcasts, clothing lines, acting jobs, and music careers but remain tied to platforms.
Paul’s professional boxing opponents bring up his influencer past as if it’s his weakness, but he’s not ashamed of it. Boxing might be a new revenue stream for him, but his brain still seems wired to seek clout. At the news conference, Paul said his mom had more Instagram followers than Rahman, which is true; Rahman said followers had nothing to do with being good at boxing, but Paul countered that having followers is how you make money.
When we spoke, Paul was in the middle of a rollicking Twitter feud with KSI, the British YouTuber credited with kicking off the influencer boxing trend. Paul had just dealt him a digital blow: “I made $45 million last year and you are making weekly youtube videos,” he wrote. Days later, Paul agreed to fight KSI in a “winner takes all” match, on the condition KSI admits that Paul is the better influencer-boxer — which he quickly did. Days later, Paul called out professional kickboxer–turned–misogynist dating influencer Andrew Tate on brother Logan’s podcast for exposing young fans to sexist ideas (both Jake and Logan said they wanted to fight him, and Tate — who posted this week about meeting with Paul’s business partner, Bidarian — has invited Paul to box him in the past, because all of them know the views it would get).
Matthew Andrews, a historian who studies the intersection of American history and sports, told me that Paul picked the “perfect sport” for a controversial influencer: It’s centered on personality, popularity, and money.
“Whether you win or lose doesn’t matter as long as people will pay money to see someone put your foot in their butt,” Andrews said.
Some of boxing’s biggest names — like Muhammad Ali, Mike Tyson, and Floyd Mayweather — were villains who audiences wanted to see fail. Andrews said it’s difficult to compare someone like Paul (who listed a FaceTime call with Donald Trump as one of his greatest achievements) to revered activist Ali, but they were similarly hated at first — fellow fighters wanted to knock Ali out and the crowd wanted to see it happen.
People want to feel like the fighters who are getting the most attention are the ones that have earned it, said Adam Gallenberg, a sports psychologist who specializes in boxing. Previously, boxers had to be good at fighting to get a shot at being famous. In the case of Paul, fame begat the resources necessary to become a professional.
Analysts are still reluctant to declare whether Paul is actually good. Three different boxing experts told me that boxing could use a superstar right now, but Paul will have to fight another boxer for anyone to know if he really has the potential.
“From what I’ve seen, he takes his craft seriously. The most flattering adjective I can throw out there is that he’s competent,” boxing commentator and podcast host Richard Solomon said. “Logan and him are like the Kardashians. They made themselves business moguls.”
Other content creators like Austin McBroom and Bryce Hall — and notably the infamous 2021 YouTubers vs. TikTokers event — have tried to step into the ring, but only a few of them are still fighting today. Even Logan Paul, who fought Mayweather in an exhibition match, has turned his attention to the WWE (where his exuberant body slams and backflips left critics reluctantly impressed).
Joe Bloom, a combat sport expert who writes for MMAHive.com, told me the decentralization of professional boxing makes exhibition matches accessible for influencers. MMA and UFC fighters are usually locked into contracts, but in boxing, a bigger audience means bigger deals — especially for Paul, who owns the promotion company that sets up his fights.
“Boxing matchups are often made on media buzz and callouts between fighters because it immediately generates excitement,” Bloom said. “At the end of the day, you just have to convince someone to buy a product.”
Getting people to buy stuff is what influencers do best. Paul went from selling himself as a YouTuber whose chaos you don’t want to miss out on to a headstrong boxer whose downfall you want to witness.
Paul is trying to make boxing his redemption after years of being a pest, in both trivial and serious ways, but putting yourself in constantly dangerous situations does have its downsides.
In a December 2021 TV appearance, he said he has been experiencing memory loss, mood swings, and slurred speech since launching his boxing career. He estimated he has experienced between 20 and 30 concussions, many of which he sustained as a child playing football. He said doctors have advised him to stop boxing.
“I’m fine, honestly. As you get better at the sport, you get hit less,” he said to me. “I mean, my nose is crooked, I have a scar from my last fight, and my teeth are messed up, but I love this sport so much. It’s part of me and I don’t care if it takes a toll on my body.”
Gabriel Zada, a board-certified neurosurgeon, told me that Paul choosing to continue to fight after receiving warnings from his doctors is definitely not advisable and increases the “potential for future or cumulative brain damage.” But Paul will do what he wants, as he always has.
That might be because Paul can see a lot of value in the sporting arena. He announced Aug. 8 that he’s launching a sports microbetting platform that will allow users to gamble on “every single play, score, drive, and player.” Being able to bet on boxing is a huge part of the reason Mayweather is one of the highest-paid athletes of all time. Americans wagered $57.22 billion on sports-related bets in 2021, though it’s only legal in 30 states. According to Vox, there’s a land grab going on within the online sports betting realm right now, and Paul will be up against stiff competition to break through with his new company. But maybe it doesn’t matter whether he succeeds — as long as people are talking about him, he wins.
Muhammad Ali credited a professional wrestler from the 1940s named Gorgeous George for saying that it didn’t matter why people were coming to see him fight just as long as long as they came to see him. In the influencer age, we might say that all views are good views if they’re generating revenue. Paul isn’t yet experiencing the boxing success he seems to want so desperately. Maybe he never will — and it doesn’t matter, because his real currency is attention, and he’s figured out a new avenue for it.
The self-mythologizing builds with every news conference and tweet, producing nonstop content that he controls. Paul told me he is reluctant to play the villain he has been “made to be,” as if his reputation isn’t the sum of his own decisions and exactly how he’s made his millions.
But of course, that’s exactly what a villain would say. ●
Source: https://www.buzzfeed.com/kelseyweekman/jake-paul-influencer-boxing-career