HAS BOXING MET ITS MATCH?
The sport faces threat as YouTubers step into the ring.
IS BOXING A DYING SPORT?
The question of whether the ancient sport is evolving or dying remains unsolved amongst the boxing community and its fans.
While YouTube personalities have begun to challenge one another to boxing matches over recent years, a new audience has rapidly built up – young eyes fixed upon screens displaying extravagant exhibition fights.
Is traditional boxing a sport of the past, or has it evolved into an online sensation for fame hungry amateurs?
Fans are beginning to ask how the two can exist alongside each other.
Will Moore, 30, has worked with former Boxing Champion Barry McGuigan and witnessed YouTuber KSI train in the ring.
The Brixton-based PR Account Manager said: "It can start to get dangerous.
“These guys are using their platforms to promote boxing – they’re not very good."
Moore voiced concerns about the upcoming Floyd Mayweather vs Logan Paul exhibition fight.
Mayweather, 43, has a 50-0 undefeated record, taking on the 25-year-old Paul who has had one professional fight - professional boxers have said the fight could be ‘dangerous’.
Moore said: “It’s an issue when one of the greatest boxers of all time is fighting a guy who’s had a professional fight against another YouTuber and lost.
“YouTubers don’t know how to defend themselves because they don’t have the years and years of training.
“It devalues the sport – it’s pretty shameful that Floyd Mayweather has done this.”
Where did YouTube boxing begin?
YouTuber Joe Weller has been dubbed ‘the forefather of YouTube boxing’ for starting the trend. Weller and a fellow YouTuber Theo Baker boxed for YouTube ‘in some dodgy gym’ in August 2017, earning 6.9 million views. This led to a boxing match between Weller and Briton KSI, who began his YouTube career uploading videos of gaming commentary. 1.6 million were believed to have watched live in February 2018, while a crowd of 7,500 witnessed the match in person.
So began the craze of boxing duels between YouTube celebrities. KSI went on to challenge Logan Paul, the two going head-to-head in August 2018, a white-collar amateur boxing match promoted as 'the biggest internet event in history'. A professional rematch took place three months later.
Exhibition fights have existed outside the YouTuber context too. Pro-boxer Floyd Mayweather has toyed with MMA fighter Conor McGregor and Japanese kickboxer Tenshin Nasukawa in the past.
Mike Tyson stated that YouTube fights are “the biggest help for boxing”, yet warned Logan Paul “there’s only one step from the limo to the gutter”.
While sports promoter Eddie Hearn attempted to rally support for the new wave of boxing in 2019, accusations of the managing director of Matchroom Sport being ‘all greed’ and devaluing the sport are rife online.
These YouTuber fights are awful, shame on Eddie Hearn for making a mockery of the sport
— Luke Newts (@NewtonLH) January 31, 2020
Pay-per-view sales are set to make millions. On YouTube channel DramaAlert, Daniel Keem declared that Mayweather is getting paid $5m up front, and a 50% cut of PPV sales.
A lot of criticism of YouTuber boxing boils down to the desire for publicity and money, with a disregard to the legitimacy of boxing as a traditional sport.
Moore said: “Anyone can look good punching a bag because a bag doesn’t punch back.
“The KSI-Logan Paul fight is like two people having a fight in the playground.
“Everyone is going to rush over and have a look.”
This new wave of boxing would not exist without social media. YouTuber personalities have gained an impressive fan base between them in YouTuber subscribers and social media followers.
In turn, they have introduced their audience to the sport in its new form.
Weatherhead considers how boxing is evolving as a sport.
Weatherhead considers how boxing is evolving as a sport.
While Weatherhead stated he would not watch YouTube boxing, he supports its growing popularity.
He said: “There’s no harm in exposing new audiences who may become paying viewers on Sky Sports or go along to a boxing show.
“It’s the way of the world now: people building an audience and making money out of it."
Though YouTube Boxing appears as a sensationalist sport on YouTube, in reality it is a minority sport at a community level.
Weatherhead said: “If my son said, 'Dad, I want to give boxing a go,' I’d go find that club.
“They’re not doing boxing at school – they’re only being exposed to it through limited means."
Lee Chambers, 35, trains at an amateur boxing club.
“Boxing has started to struggle a bit in the traditional sense – its fallen behind other sports in terms of marketing, and promotion and how it operates.
“It’s not been the most forefront in getting new audiences engaged.”
Chambers shares his views on the differences between professional fights and the new wave of YouTube boxing.
Chambers shares his views on the differences between professional fights and the new wave of YouTube boxing.
A heralded benefit of the new age of YouTube boxing has been the ‘new audience’ that has built up. But can traditional boxers appeal to this younger audience?
Chambers, a Preston-based Psychologist and Wellbeing Consultant, said: “It’s up to traditional boxers to attract and engage the younger generation into boxing, from building their own social media presences."
Does traditional boxing need to adapt to keep up?
Chambers discussed the evolution of sport within society: sport has formulated a way to deliver more instant gratification and action according to demand. Boxing used to be 15 rounds – it is now 12.
He said: “Younger generations want things quicker – they’re used to micro-content of five minutes.
“They’re not used to sitting there for 90 minutes watching a 12-round fight.
“YouTube boxers are not prepared to fight like that.
“They try to bash each other up – it looks like a drunken street brawl.
“But that’s entertaining to people who want it to be over quickly because someone is going to get knocked out – they can’t defend themselves properly."
What does the future of YouTube boxing look like?
The question of just how sustainable this new brand of boxing is remains.
Chambers considers that YouTube boxing should be separate: its own league, titles and event. Traditional boxing is not dying – but faces challenges beyond being overshadowed by YouTube stars.
Chambers said: “To make money, decisions are made that aren’t always best for fans, like hosting fights in countries with little boxing history.
“That limits the accessibility to the traditional fan base.”
It must also face the wrath of being under scrutiny for its medical risks; contact sports can cause chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) - a progressive brain condition thought to be caused by repeated blows to the head and repeated episodes of concussion.
Chambers predicted that YouTube boxing will not exist in ten years, but the sport cannot remain passive during these changing times.
He said: “Boxing needs to move with the times and evolve as the machine that it is.
"It can’t live off the wonder years of the 80's forever.”
Flourish chart:
Youtube boxing rankings according to https://www.thekocup.com/you-tube-fighter-rank
Boxing rankings according to https://boxrec.com/en/ratings
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