By Stuart Ly
Based on one’s perspective, opinion, or even age, you would debate if Jake Paul, social media superstar and now a professional boxer, is good for the sport of boxing. One may find him a joke to the sport, whereas the other side would view him as bringing the sport back.
Jake Paul first came to fame by doing pranks with his brother, Logan Paul on Vine, an entertainment network, and Youtube. They gathered millions of fans around the world. In 2018, he had his very first boxing match, against fellow Youtuber Deji. He’s extended his boxing career, and now, 4 years later, he has had five professional fights and won all five professional bouts, with four of them coming by way of knockout.
The world said he was a disgrace to boxing. A clown. A joke. Dana White, President of the famous UFC (Ultimate Fighting Championship) organization, has recently traded words with the American superstar, telling him to fight better opposition.
Boxing and the combat sports industry rely heavily on the fighters’ popularity, and their success as a whole. Most boxing events are watched via PPV (Pay Per View) where for those all around the world, you would have to buy the fight, rather than your cable providing the event.
Many continue to laugh at Paul, with him being considered a mockery of the sport. But the business aspect doesn’t seem to be as much of a mockery. In August of 2021, Paul sold 500,000 PPV sales, at a price of $60 whilst fighting former UFC Welterweight champion Tyron Woodley. That means $300,000,000 was generated off of PPV. When you look at championship fights over 2021, such as Davis vs Barrios, Pacquiao vs Ugas, and many more, Paul managed to sell more than all of these events.
Fighting is a language that can attract millions of people. Jake Paul holds entertainment and fighting, thus he’s much more attention-grabbing than other fighters, including those who hold championship belts, due to their lack of entertainment.
Over Paul’s five professional fights, as each had led up, millions of people wished for the American to get brutally knocked out. But their wish hasn’t come to life. Except, Paul is trying to get these people to fall into his trap of attention and attract more of an audience. He mastered the ability to entertain, leaving him with the vast amounts of money boxing has given him. He’s been able to generate attention for himself and his fights while also training hard. Now, his fights all have a buzz, leading the 24-year-old boxer to superstardom.
At just 24 years old, he’s already made his own agency, trying his best to bring other boxers with him who need the attention that he believes they deserve. At the moment, he’s signed one fighter named Amanda Serrano, Puerto Rican boxer. She is the current unified champion of Featherweight and has been a world champion across 7 divisions: Featherweight, Lightweight, Bantamweight, Super Featherweight, Light Welterweight, Super Bantamweight, and Super Flyweight. She is one division behind Filipino boxer Manny Pacquiao, leaving her in 2nd place on this record. In Paul’s last two fights, the Puerto Rican has been the co-main to both events.
Paul continues to establish his boxing record and help improve boxing and what one can consider ‘bringing it back.’ People consider him a mockery, but is he really one when you think about all his impacts on the sport within only a few years?