A YouTuber who is cashing in on his fifteen minutes of fame in the boxing world has given the current fad a new name – Influencer Boxing.
Firstly, in an attempt to morph the Millenial trend into something interesting (if he could), the pretend fighter vowed to trade blows more than once this year.
Not surprising with the amount of money on offer to anyone who has over a certain amount of subscribers to their channel. And they don’t even have to know how to punch or defend themselves to be made a professional!
The man is question stated the following about the marmite attractions: “I see how big this is becoming. It’s just the start of what we’re going to see and that’s why I am so excited by it. I want to be the pioneer of this space.
“This is not a one-off stunt for me. I want to keep fighting and I have a list of targets of people that keep talking s***, Antonio Brown, Dillon Danis, other YouTubers – the potential for this is massive.
“I know that I will be the best ‘influencer-boxer’ due to the fact I’ve fallen in love with boxing, I was watching my sparring back and just thinking ‘I love fighting’. It takes me back to my roots of being competitive playing football and wrestling.
“This is new, it is an untapped vertical for me. I look at myself as an innovator and a pioneer. I came into YouTube at a time when a lot of change needed to happen. We went so big and viral and became the biggest.
“Boxing is making a huge comeback and there’s a huge lane for ‘celebrities’ or whatever you want to call us to make a huge noise.”
On pocketing cold-hard cash for what can hardly even be described as boxing, he added: “It’s a business. If we can see the most tickets, we’re going to make the most money and draw the most fans.
“That’s why I want to be the best. The most technically skilled ‘influencer-boxer’.”
Sadly, the real fans of the sport who bring the passion are having to deal with proper pro boxers being pushed aside to accommodate these people.
A harsh fact given the work many put in day in and day out.
Furthermore, there’s been no proof yet than any of these participants can even box to a low standard.
It doesn’t seem likely to change anytime soon. Especially when the dollars keep rolling in.
However, we can always hope it goes away quickly. Very quickly.
