On Sunday night in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia Jake Paul took on Tommy Fury in a fight that was building for over two years. A YouTuber vs a guy with a rich name in boxing, but made his fame from a dating show, the question has to be asked, is this good or bad for the game of boxing?
Legendary Northern Irish boxer Carl Frampton tweeted during the week; “My wife who hates boxing wants to watch Jake Paul vs Tommy Fury. My daughter who never mentions boxing wants to watch this. Grannys in the street are asking me about it and as a former fighter I want to see it. Like it or not, this is big!”
Whether you like it or not both Jake Paul & Tommy Fury had a lot of eyeballs and generated a lot of money for the sport of boxing on Sunday night. You might have the ordinary boxer who wasn’t on Love Island or doesn’t have a big Youtube channel giving out like hell about this event.
But it just goes to show the power of social media and ‘influencers’ and if you want to make it in any sport nowadays it’s all about creating a brand and identity. Conor McGregor is another prime example of this, while McGregor was a hugely talented MMA athlete who was excellent at selling his fights and Dana White and the UFC can thank him for all the work he did in growing the UFC.
What Happens Now That Jake Paul Lost?
There is a clause in Jake Paul’s contract that allows him to have a rematch and straight after the fight Jake Paul said;
“We can run it back,” Paul said. “I think we deserve that rematch.”
He continued: “All respect to Tommy, he won. Don’t judge me by my wins, judge me by my losses.”
Paul claimed he had problems in training camp which made him “flat” in the fight.
“I felt flat – I got sick really bad twice in this camp, injured my arm. This wasn’t my best performance, but that’s no excuse,” he said.
Fury welcomed the prospect of a rematch.
“This is my first main event. If he wants a rematch, bring it on,” Fury said.
Paul certainly gave no indication he was going to abandon his adventure in boxing.
“This is definitely a humbling experience,” Paul said but he added: “I’ve made it further than I ever thought that I would, and beyond.”
Undeterred, it seems, Paul intends to see how much further he can still go.
So looks like we will see these two guys go toe to toe inside the ring again at some stage, will we see it again this year? They’d be foolish not to, they both made a tone of money for their fight in the Middle East and will do the same again when they fight each other be it in Europe, American or the Saudi Arabia again boxing odds on Midnite will have all the updates if they do go at it again.
Is it good for boxing? You’d have to say, yes.