Updated: Apr 28, 2021 9:02 pm
Jake Paul and Logan Paul have been making headlines in the boxing world, (Jake also in the Mixed Martial Arts world). Logan Paul and Floyd Mayweather have just announced that they will be fighting on June 6th and Jake Paul just knocked out a former Mixed Martial Artist world champion in the first round.
The sport of boxing had become a bit of a farce, the biggest names in boxing seemed to lack a mainstream personality that would generate headlines that would make people want to watch their fights. Not only that, there are a lot of weight divisions, and with that comes a lot of belts. It can get confusing to those who are casual watchers of the Sport, which every sport needs.
Boxing has many promotion companies, each having its own stars. The biggest names in each division, those with the belts, were not fighting other big names because of contract disputes between promotion companies and other varying factors.
Enter Jake Paul and Logan Paul
Brothers from America who wrestled in college but made their fame on social media and Youtube. They both amassed a following into the millions and become celebrities on the internet. In their early days, controversy followed as it usually does for early 20-year-old celebrities.
With controversy, comes more fame. Logan got in trouble whilst travelling in Japan and filmed something unfavourable with the internet community, causing him to get banned for a short while. Jake Paul had a stint on Disney Channel before getting released for bad behaviour.
3 Years ago, Logan and Jake Paul were challenged to a boxing match by another Youtube star, KSI and his brother Deji. Logan’s match ended in a draw, and Jake won by Technical knock out. Logan and KSI competed again and Logan Paul lost a controversial decision. Ever since then, they both decided to take boxing seriously and train full time whilst also continuing their social media and Youtube careers, gaining more and more followers and waiting for their next opportunities in the ring.
In 2020 Jake Paul got his professional opportunity and fought, yet another, Youtube personality in ‘Gib’. This would be the start of Jake’s boxing journey and a good indication of how far he had come in boxing training. He knocked ‘Gib’ out in the first round. It was clear Jake had talent and good boxing skills. But the criticism was, he has only fought Youtube stars. But what did people expect? He was a Youtube star himself and was in his first professional boxing match.
Later that year in 2020, Jake again announced his next opportunity. This time against a real athlete, former NBA star Nate Robinson. Jake knocked him out in the second round. The knockout went viral, it was a good knockout, good hand speed and footwork followed by a vicious right hand.
During these first two hands, Jake was doing a lot of trash talking. Along with his followers from social media and Youtube, these fights generated plenty of eyeballs to watch him fight. Many tuning in to see him lose, he is that type of character. He plays the bad guy very well and buys into that character to build fights and get people to watch. So the next criticism after his second fight was that he needs to fight someone who has fought before.
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He got that opportunity recently against Ben Askren, who up until 2019 was undefeated and a world champion in two different organizations. So if Jake were to win, it would be hard to argue his boxing ability. As mentioned before, Jake knocked him out in the first round. A victory many people thought would not happen.
Jake’s boxing ability gets discredited due to his antics outside the ring. He talks a lot, calls out a lot of people to fights and can easily get under people’s skin. Logan has played the opposite role, he is now known for being a very nice person and doing great things through his social media platforms whilst also becoming a presence in the business world.
Both have a tremendous understanding of the marketing power they have. Almost as if they have become the cliché good brother, bad brother. They could compete in anything and people would watch and follow, yet they decided to get in a boxing ring and fight. It should be applauded. They entered the boxing world in a time when boxing was lacking viewership and characters. Jake Paul’s last fight supposedly reached 1.5 million pay-per-view buys, in a new promotion organization ‘Triller’ this number will never be able to be proven, but even if it is in that ballpark of a figure that is impressive.
Logan (0-1 record) has just announced he is fighting, arguably the best fighter ever in Floyd Mayweather (50-0 record). A lot of people have been asking why and you can hear some fans rolling their eyes. Realistically, Logan doesn’t have a chance. Maybe the fact, he will be able to come in at a heavier weight than Floyd and has a height advantage, he has a punchers chance. The reason why is because they are both marketing geniuses and businessmen. The number of eyes that will come off the back of this boxing match, towards their respective brands and businesses. They know what they are doing, and most fans are buying into it. Every comment, like, follow and talking with your friends about it, is buying into it. It is exactly what Floyd Mayweather, Logan and Jake want from everyone.
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Jake has legit boxing ability and has already become one of the biggest money fights in boxing. If he chooses his opponents carefully, he will be able to build into a massive boxing star. 3 fights into his career and people already want to see him fight seasoned veterans, just to see him lose. What will happen, and should happen, is that he will choose opponents that he can beat and continue to beat them. He will gain attention and people will watch to see him lose, only increasing his stock.
Every sport adapts and the two Paul brothers are leading the charge in terms of a new trajectory for the sport of boxing. It has become an entertainment sport where celebrities are able to compete. The art of boxing is still alive and well and will always have its place at the top of the sport, however, there will now be a place for these entertainment fights. The fans must adapt too, and appreciate what these guys are doing. Professional boxers who get frustrated with the attention must adapt too. Don’t like it? learn from their marketing strategies and create a profile for yourself to get similar attention.
Jake Paul’s First Fight:
