Why would Mike Tyson fight Jake Paul? Is it absurd, or brilliant?

Boxing has been turned upside down in the last few years, with a circus of the absurd that began with a retired Floyd Mayweather taking a bout with Conor McGregor as a way to massage his “official” record to a perfect 50-0.

There was enough there, just enough, to give Floyd a pass. McGregor was an MMA fighter, and while his boxing was nothing short of terrible, at least he was able to navigate his way around the ring. Nobody took it seriously except Floyd. Well, and the accounting departments of boxing promoters everywhere.

Already famous for characters like Don King, Frank Warren, Eddie Hearn, and Bob Arum, characters in short who are slimy at best, bordering on criminal at worst, boxing has hovered in the shadows of dodgy fight-making for over a century, the red-light district of the sporting world.

And through all of that time, there was always enough smarts amongst these companies to maintain at least the illusion of respectability. Licensing boards and gaming commissions ensured that the fighters involved were, if not squeaky clean, at least bona fide pugilists, men who had trained and were prepared for the rigors of the ring.

And then came Floyd. And once the accountants got involved, really looking at the money involved, they saw a glaring market. Influencers.

The rise of influencer boxing

YouTube and social media has created a world that simply did not exist a generation ago, a world of almost untold wealth built on nothing more than personality. This world is peopled by all types, from geeky gamers and programmers, to porn stars, to wannabe tough guys, and they were primed for exploitation. Low hanging fruit, with virtual wallets full of very real cash, ready to be plucked.

Out of the inevitable scrum to bring this following to the table, came a slew of influencer fights and only two rose to the top. Ebanie Bridges and Jake Paul.

It is perhaps unfair to lump Ebanie into this group, since she was not an influencer prior to boxing, bringing instead her boxing following to OnlyFans. She is a former mathematics teacher, ring card girl and bodybuilder turned boxer and she came up through the ranks the traditional way, competing in amateur fights and winning the Australasian Golden Gloves before turning pro and ultimately winning the IBF World Bantamweight title.

As a world champion and former bodybuilder with model-class looks, Bridges brought OnlyFans to boxing as a sponsor, and for this reason, she has heralded a new wave of influencers into the sport, particularly X-rated OnlyFans model Elle Brooke who is trained by Bridges.

Unlike Ebanie Bridges, Jake Paul was a traditional influencer prior to ever entering a boxing ring. Starting off at ten years old, Paul amassed a social media following of over five million, with video views in the billions, mainly by posting childish nonsense, pranks, stunts, and (almost universally lambasted) hip hop music.

In these early influencer and white-collar bouts, Paul showed some promise in the ring, and while he doesn’t have the skill of Bridges, he has the determination to train and, most importantly, the bottomless bank account to fund his career. With a net worth of around $40 million, Paul was able to start his own promotion company, Most Valuable Promotions, which has managed to sign and promote one of the best female boxers in history in Amanda Serrano.

The insanity of it all

With boxing now plunged full pelt into influencer boxing, insane events were inevitable. Mayweather “fought” Paul’s older brother Logan, and OnlyFans have become a perennial sponsor, with their logo gracing rings and their stars peopling undercards all over the world. And now, this orgy of Roman excess has come to its peak, offering to pit the greatest heavyweight of all time against what can only be described as an average novice. Ignoring the advice of Robert Downey Jr’s character in the film Tropic Thunder to “never go full retard,” boxing has removed any brakes that may have once existed on the sport.

In boxing terms, there is no match to be had here. Paul is an average boxer at best, no more than a journeyman level were he not the influential name that he is, able to handpick opponents who won’t show him up. Tyson is still Tyson. Yes, his age has dulled his speed and reflexes, if not yet his fearsome punching power. But a wounded tiger is still a tiger. The only thing that prevents this bout from being classed as sheer bloody murder is Tyson’s age.

The brilliance of it all

Old boxing farts like me have to accept that the world is turning. Generations, yes multiple, have now come of age without knowing anything other than the legend of Mike Tyson. These new generations require spectacle, not simply sport, to bring them to the boxing fold. They are willing to pay out a lot of money, but you must give them what they want. The oldest adage in the business world, and one that these serpentine boxing promoters instinctively follow. And what they want is to see their own stars competing at the highest level.

Besides, even before the fight was a dream for anyone, Tyson had already gone on record as saying that he respects what Jake Paul is doing in the ring. “He’s grown significantly as a boxer over the years, so it will be a lot of fun to see what the will and ambition of a kid can do with the experience and aptitude of a GOAT.”

Paul has said that he is taking boxing seriously, and for what it is worth, he seems to be taking his training seriously. While his boxing level is still fairly low, it is reasonable to assume that it can only improve with time. “My sights are set on becoming a world champion, and now I have a chance to prove myself against the greatest heavyweight champion ever, the baddest man on the planet and the most dangerous boxer of all time.”

Maybe the joke, in the end, is on us, the old generation of boxing fans who took perhaps the sport too seriously. We always saw the showmanship as an unfortunate side effect of giving young men lots of money and fame. But maybe, just maybe, we were wrong. Maybe the showmanship is what boxing is all about. Iron Mike has certainly entertained us through the years. Perhaps this is a passing of the torch ceremony, not from champion to champion, but from showman to showman. And in that sense, maybe this matchup is genius.