GUEST COLUMN
... the fight between Youtubers still managed to put a smile on my face
Reflecting on the latest Youtuber ‘fight’
THE morning after the bill in Miami, I received an email message from a friend I respect greatly, one who has been involved in boxing in various capacities. This is what he wrote: “That Youtube reality bulls**t fight was an embarrassment to the sport and card as a whole. [Eddie] Hearn is cheapening the sport by catering to this. If this is the path, why stop here? Get Kim Kardashian to fight her stepfather Bruce Jenner, now Caitlyn Jenner, and bill it as a female fight. They would draw a MUCH bigger audience then these clowns with next to zero talent.”
That same morning, I received this message from Boxing News editor, Matt Christie. “If you want to remark on the utter lunacy and poor quality of that Youtube ‘fight’ in your report, please do.” Okay, so here goes. Two days before the event, Jake Paul and Aneson Gib were given their own press conference at the CMX Cinema Brickell City Center in downtown Miami, while all the other combatants shared one right after. The Youtubers were treated as if they were the main event of the starstudded show. And in some ways, they were. As a result of their fight, DAZN reportedly gained a ton of new subscribers. And if that revenue stream contributes to them putting on better quality boxing events, who can argue about it not being a good thing?
Besides, other sports have done things similar. People scoffed when
Michael Jordan took up baseball. They said he was an embarrassment to compete at that, yet sold-out crowds greeted Jordan whenever he played.
Arriving at the press conference early, I noticed there was not a notable media presence. As a result, I tried to make myself obscure – not wishing to be asked to speak to one of the contestants. I had no interest in them or their fight, regarding it much as others did, as a big joke and nothing more.
However, once in the arena, this senior citizen had a transformation. After sitting through some mismatches and a 10-round snooze fest between Roamer Alexis Angulo and Anthony Sims Jnr, the place came alive when the Youtubers got ready to roll. Although it was approaching midnight, my fatigue was replaced by the smile on my face.
Yes, the fight, if we should call it that, was of terrible quality. Gib rushed at Paul, getting low and charging hard, but was lacking in defence, durability and, of course, any semblance of technique. Gibb was dropped three times by ordinary punches and stopped in the first round. It ended quick and painlessly for us and them. Certainly, it was no worse than sitting through the many mismatches we have become accustomed to.
When the show was finished, I took the shuttle back to the Nautilus Hotel on Collins Avenue, where the fighters and different boxing luminaries were housed. As the shuttle started to move, my eyes wandered to the seats a couple of rows ahead of me. Sitting obscurely among the passengers was a forlorn figure who seemed at peace with himself and the surroundings. He did not speak with anyone, nor they with him. Just another face in the crowd, not the co- star of the show he had been an hour or so before. Anesongib had moved on.
Perhaps it’s best we do too.
‘THAT FIGHT WAS AN EMBARRASSMENT. EDDIE HEARN IS CHEAPENING THE SPORT BY CATERING TO THIS’