Boxing’s latest circus act: Nobody wins when Anthony Joshua fights Jake Paul
YouTuber Jake Paul will fight British boxer Anthony Joshua in Miami next month.
Image: Leonardo Fernandez/Getty Images/AFP
Matchroom Boxing made the bizarre announcement on Monday afternoon that former world heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua will go toe-to-toe with YouTuber and part-time fighter Jake Paul.
It’s the latest farce in a sport that once gave us title fights like the iconic Rumble in the Jungle between Muhammad Ali and George Foreman, and Mike Tyson against an undefeated Michael Spinks.
And who can forget the much-hyped 2015 bout between Floyd Mayweather Jr and Manny Pacquiao that had people all over the world staying up late into the night to watch.
In recent years, though, social media influencers have tried their hand at boxing. Rapper and social media star KSI stepped into the ring against Logan Paul – Jake’s brother – in 2019 and won. Four years later, he decided to fight an actual boxer in Tommy Fury, and was taught a lesson.
Then there was Jake Paul’s farce of a fight against an ageing and sickly Mike Tyson last year. “The winner of the [fight] was … irrelevant. It’s all about the money, and don’t think for a second that it was about anything else,” wrote IOL Sport’s Michael Sherman last year.
“After the dust settled on the highly-anticipated, made-for-streaming exhibition boxing match on Netflix, both YouTuber Paul and Tyson would be left laughing all the way to the bank.”
And it’s obviously the same for Joshua, who will reportedly take home a staggering £50m (R1.1 billion). That’s £10 million (R225 million) shy of his biggest payday against Andy Ruiz Jr.
This fight is clearly about money, and it will have no real winners. If Joshua wins, he will be known as the bully that beat up an influencer for money. If he loses, he will be known as the has-been who lost to a YouTuber.
It’s a huge fall from grace for someone who just eight years ago was being talked about as the “new Muhammad Ali” after defeating the legendary Wladimir Klitschko in London.
In the end, this isn’t about legacy, pride, or sport – it’s about spectacle and profit. Joshua’s showdown with Paul will be remembered not for the skill in the ring, but for the absurdity of the narrative: one of boxing’s great champions trading punches with a YouTube star for headline dollars. For a sport that once commanded awe and respect, it’s a stark reminder that today’s biggest fights are sometimes more about clicks than courage.
IOL Sport
* The views expressed are not necessarily the views of IOL or Independent Media.
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