Comments Thread For: Fueled By a Viral KO, Jake Paul Cruises into 2022

[BIGPOPPAPUMP]

By Lyle Fitzsimmons - Hey, whaddya know? It's the penultimate Tuesday in 2021's boxing reality. Yes, that reality. The one that's been overtaken by the likes of Jake Paul. Love it or loathe it, the bratty Ohioan and his wannabe older brother have become the straws that stir the in-ring drink. Don't think so? Still refusing to believe it?
[Click Here To Read More]

[Liondw]

Jake will ride this for as long as possible, laughing all the way to the bank. He'll continue winning against all these mma guys that can't box to save their life.

I admire the hustle of the Paul brothers. I check how they fought on youtube, but never tuned in to their fights live.

[kingstip9]

Let’s see him against someone in his actual weight class.

good to have power against lighter opponents.

let’s see how it stacks up against someone his size.

[Cyborg Fangerloo]

Holy crap! Two articles today about this trash! He has never fought a boxer!

[Daniel Skillman]

This is *prize fighting.
And the prize is money, not a championship.
Boxing is not set up to crown the best fighters in each division.
Boxing is set up to funnel as much money as possible to a select few cash cows while consigning the vast majority of fighters to poverty.
Even some "world champions" have to have day jobs to support themselves.

Every once in a while, the "free market" forces two of the best to share a ring in their prime.
And when that happens, it's a real treat.
But, and I repeat myself, that is *not what the sport is set up to produce.
The sport is set up to produce exactly what we saw on Saturday night.
The sport is set up to produce Jake Paul.

For those saying, "That wasn't a real fight," and "Paul isn't a real fighter," I say this:
If the bout is officially sanctioned, watched over by an official commission, and neither the action nor the outcome is scripted, then it's a real fight, and Paul's a real fighter.
It just wasn't a fight between the best practitioners of the sport, and Paul isn't a true master of the craft.
But the punches were real.
The danger was real.
It was a real fight.
And Paul is a real fighter.

Not many regular pro fighters have taken as difficult of fights, for as many scheduled rounds as Paul has at this point in his career.
And very few have ever had the kind of media hype to contend with that Paul has.
The kid set the bar high, and he's raised it every night out.
Will he be a world champion someday?
Almost certainly not.
But is he a legitimate fighter?
Yes, we have to say that he is.

And he's doing a good thing for boxing.
He's bringing attention to the sport.
He's supporting a few fighters that we might not otherwise have heard of.
Oh, and he's given us a couple of highlight reel KOs.

I went to his fight in Cleveland.
I sat about 10 rows back.
The atmosphere was electric.
He brought a "big fight" feel like you'd get in Vegas or at the Garden to *Cleveland.
When was the last time someone did that?
I hope he does it again.
I'll be there.

The problem I have with the Paul Brothers Circus is not the Paul's.
The problem I have is with the problems that it reveals about boxing.
The way the sport is set up, most fighters get paid peanuts, while only a very few at the very top pull in riches that dwarf earnings in every other sport.
And sometimes, the richest of the rich aren't even ranked, let alone champions.
That's not a problem the Paul's created.
That's a *systemic problem that boxing has created for itself.
And until that problem gets fixed, we're gonna keep getting the Pauls.
And they're going to keep raking in 7 or even 8 figure purses.

So, don't hate the Pauls.
Don't hate the fighters.
Your real beef is with the fight *game.
The politics of the sport.
The *economic arrangement of the sport.
That's where the problem lies.

Dan Skillman
2021-12-22

[ELPacman]

He's not wrong... the KO video by Showtime on youtube nearly has 10million views. It's not even a week old... Look other high profile events in boxing. A lot of those highlights barely crack 3 million views and they've been around forever. The buzz is real and people are coming back to watch it over and over.

[ELPacman]

This is *prize fighting.
And the prize is money, not a championship.
Boxing is not set up to crown the best fighters in each division.
Boxing is set up to funnel as much money as possible to a select few cash cows while consigning the vast majority of fighters to poverty.
Even some "world champions" have to have day jobs to support themselves.

Every once in a while, the "free market" forces two of the best to share a ring in their prime.
And when that happens, it's a real treat.
But, and I repeat myself, that is *not what the sport is set up to produce.
The sport is set up to produce exactly what we saw on Saturday night.
The sport is set up to produce Jake Paul.

For those saying, "That wasn't a real fight," and "Paul isn't a real fighter," I say this:
If the bout is officially sanctioned, watched over by an official commission, and neither the action nor the outcome is scripted, then it's a real fight, and Paul's a real fighter.
It just wasn't a fight between the best practitioners of the sport, and Paul isn't a true master of the craft.
But the punches were real.
The danger was real.
It was a real fight.
And Paul is a real fighter.

Not many regular pro fighters have taken as difficult of fights, for as many scheduled rounds as Paul has at this point in his career.
And very few have ever had the kind of media hype to contend with that Paul has.
The kid set the bar high, and he's raised it every night out.
Will he be a world champion someday?
Almost certainly not.
But is he a legitimate fighter?
Yes, we have to say that he is.

And he's doing a good thing for boxing.
He's bringing attention to the sport.
He's supporting a few fighters that we might not otherwise have heard of.
Oh, and he's given us a couple of highlight reel KOs.

I went to his fight in Cleveland.
I sat about 10 rows back.
The atmosphere was electric.
He brought a "big fight" feel like you'd get in Vegas or at the Garden to *Cleveland.
When was the last time someone did that?
I hope he does it again.
I'll be there.

The problem I have with the Paul Brothers Circus is not the Paul's.
The problem I have is with the problems that it reveals about boxing.
The way the sport is set up, most fighters get paid peanuts, while only a very few at the very top pull in riches that dwarf earnings in every other sport.
And sometimes, the richest of the rich aren't even ranked, let alone champions.
That's not a problem the Paul's created.
That's a *systemic problem that boxing has created for itself.
And until that problem gets fixed, we're gonna keep getting the Pauls.
And they're going to keep raking in 7 or even 8 figure purses.

So, don't hate the Pauls.
Don't hate the fighters.
Your real beef is with the fight *game.
The politics of the sport.
The *economic arrangement of the sport.
That's where the problem lies.

Dan Skillman
2021-12-22

I agree with this. It is basically celebrity boxing. If you are a popular draw outside of boxing and come into it, of course you're going to bring the followers and the money that comes with them. It is simple economics. Yeah it sucks when guys who had 20+ fights and still don't make those kind of paychecks or have that type of audience, but that is where "celebrity" comes in.

When you think about it, boxing is this amazing outlet for various reasons. Either you can be a poor dude who grew up in the street and work your way up the hard way. Literally fighting for peanuts and making your way to the top, creating buzz and becoming something. Then you get those huge paychecks. Though that is because you had to work your way up in the sport as a nobody. You lived your life as a nobody until boxing finally recognized you and you get all the glory that goes with it (fanbase, stardom, money).

OR, you are already a somebody, you come into this dangerous sport and you put your fame on the line. The people will come who already follow you because of your status, and thus the paychecks will start out already massive because of your draw. You might call it skipping ahead of the line, though you already put in your work else where to gain your status. Boxing just provided an outlet to let you capitalize on it ($$$).

Though hey, it is not all easy and like they say, you don't play boxing. Not just any celebrity can throw on some gloves and think he's going to get easy KOs, wins and more $$$. It is as dangerous for the celebrity as it is for the other guy. That is where boxing always proves to be an honest sport. It will reveal a lot about you regardless of whether you started out as celebrity, or came up from nothing. In the end, both sides are mortal and can take equal damage to their health.

[fightfanjoe]

Paul brings new viewers to the sport, which is good. He's a novice boxer knocking out well- known MMA champs, which again is good for boxing. He's fighting guys appropriate to his experience level (go look who some of your favorite fighters fought early in their careers). I fail to see a problem. Boxing internet nerds are the worst.

[Curt Henning]

i cant knock the paul brothers for seperating fools from their money....they def hustle

but these guys would be knocked out by active, D level, club fighters FFS...and people that dont understand that will continue to buy into this stuff

[Kannabis Kid]

To be fair he was scheduled to fight Tommy Fury he wasn't the one who pulled out. The problem is he won't be able to test himself against any active UFC guy because they are still under slave contracts and Dana won't let them represent themselves without dipping into the profit. So he's going to continue to fight past prime MMA guys and continue to knock them out big fan of Diaz and Masvidal but they would both get brutally knocked out they are just too small blown up 155 lbers it wouldn't even be fair at least Woodley walks around at 200 lbs and he was still small. Paul makes a lot of mistakes and his stamina isn't great any boxer 175 lbs and up with a good amateur pedigree would take him out.