Jake Paul took one foot out of boxing this week when signing an MMA deal that will hopefully diminish his involvement in the sport for good.
The YouTuber has made millions from entering ‘professional boxing’ without facing an actual professional boxer.
This type of career by an ‘influencer’ is damaging for the sport and sets a precedence for others to follow.
Jake Paul entertained by boxing networks
Networks have pandered to Paul and others in his field for fear of missing out on sales. This is due to the millions of followers those social media stars have gained through other means away from boxing.
But instead of putting them in their own category, Showtime and DAZN have presented these charades in the same capacity as professional boxing when it’s an entirely different sport.
Giving Jake Paul’s calls outs of Canelo Alvarez and other big-name stars the time of day has muddied the waters with the younger generation. Some actually believe the deception is real.
It proves the power social media and influence have on boxing and the world today. People will believe anything if it’s presented to them in a certain way.
The one good thing is Amanda Serrano
However, Paul has never had the talent to back up his strong words and arguments. The only good he’s done is put more eyes on Amanda Serrano.
The female star needed a career boost. Her acknowledgments were going unchecked. Before her breakout with Paul, only World Boxing News of any boxing media outlets had named Serrano as a Female Fighter of the Year.
She was a seven-weight world champion with no profile. So Paul has done something right. And he should continue to do so without all the bravado of telling fans he could beat Canelo.
If he genuinely wants to be good for our sport, he should take his capacity as a promoter more seriously. Jake Paul should prove his love for the sport and worth in the longer term.
He’d get far more respect for that than for making a mockery of boxing as he did on Christmas Day of 2022.
MMA deal
Paul is set to divide his time between MMA and boxing for 2023. If anyone needed it, there’s proof that he was never truly serious about getting anywhere near the top of pugilism.
Stating he had the dedication to go all the way is since disproven by his willingness to flit towards MMA and become a part-time boxer.
In this sport, there’s no room for casual professionals breeding inconsistency. Anyone who truly wanted to hone their craft would stick to one code until they reached their end goal.
As we all know, though, Paul’s boxing career was merely a gimmick. He intends to pick it up and drop it whenever he feels like it.
Boxing will only be better for not entertaining YouTubers as professionals in the future. Let’s call it what it is from now on.
The views expressed in this article are the opinions of experienced boxing writer Phil Jay. Twitter @PhilJWBN. Follow WBN: Facebook, Insta, Twitter.
