The Paul Brothers and their Place Within Boxing

BoxingJennifer Steele

The latest craze amongst the sports world has been the collision of social media and sports. Many internet stars have been shifting their talents towards the boxing ring. Some of the most notable ones to do this have been the Paul brothers, Logan and Jake. Now that they have gained traction, bringing in tons of profit and endorsements, other internet personalities are looking to follow suit. Their fights have managed to take over the internet and be the top stories across sports news.

The most recent fight that dominated the sports world was the Triller Fight with Jake versus Ben Askren. The event was packed with celebrity hosts, announcers, and entertainment. Mario Lopez was the host of the event, with support from celebrity announcers such as Snoop Dogg, Pete Davidson, Taylor Hill, Charli D’Amelio, Dixie D’Amelio, and Crimefaces. In addition to the host and announcers, the event had commentators: Ray Flores, Al Bernstein, Mike Coppinger, Sean Wheelock, Ernesto Amador, and Israel Vazquez. With this lineup surrounding the fight to relay the message to the crowd, there was entertainment to match. Justin Bieber was the headlining performer, followed by the Black Keys, Doja Cat, Saweetie, Diplo, Major Lazer, and Mt. Westmore.

The fight took place in Atlanta, Georgia at the Mercedes-Benz Stadium on April 17 at 9 pm.

According to mmafighting.com, “The Triller Fight Club card headlined by Jake’s knockout win over Askren will likely go down as one of the most successful pay-per-views of 2021. The event, which featured four boxing matches on the main card, sold over 1 million pay-per-views with final numbers for the show still being calculated. According to sources speaking to MMA Fighting on Monday, the total pay-per-view sales will likely fall between 1.2 to 1.6 million buys when it’s all said and done”.

Numbers like these come as a surprise as the previous promotion under Triller was only able to produce the card that Mike Tyson had been featured on in his return through his exhibition round against Roy Jones Jr. back in November.

The amount of media and popularity that the fight between Paul and Askren attracted was through the roof shown through ticket sales and pay-per-view sales with the aftermath of the event being all over Google and social media from the entirety of the weekend.

The reason that this fight was such a success came from the supporting cast of the event but also Jake’s popularity. The Triller Fight Club paid for the top Tik Tok stars and other internet personalities to be flown out to Atlanta to fill the seats and create the hype that was needed to bring in a wide range of viewers which has become the norm for any type of event nowadays.

The main question on many peoples’ minds is are Jake and Logan Paul as talented as they have been made out to be or are the Paul brothers working a system by fixing fights and cashing in on celebrities’ names and images? Arguments have been made that their opponents are not talented, too old, or just appearing for the paycheck as they have been promised money even after being knocked out.

Jake’s previous opponents have been: Deji Olatunji, AnEsonGib, Nate Robinson, and Ben Askren. Logan Paul has fought KSI and is awaiting a fight in the coming weeks with Floyd Mayweather Jr. Jake has more fights under his belt, with more experience than his older brother Logan.

According to Sports Illustrated, “the upcoming fight against Paul, Mayweather reportedly will receive $5 million upfront and then 50% of the pay-per-view sales. (Paul will reportedly get a $200,000 guarantee and 5% of the PPV haul, which will still make for a seven-figure payout.) Says UFC impresario Dana White, himself no stranger to pay-per-view lucre, “If you’re Floyd and you can make $20 million or even $10 million and not worry about training or getting touched, why not?”” With Mayweather coming out to this fight, with the fight purse being so high, it further proves the point that these celebrities are in it to make money, no matter if they win or lose

The list of people who are waiting to fight these brothers is long and not just fighters. There are many celebrities that have been outspoken about their desire to get in on these fights which also raises suspicions as to why these brothers are so popular to get in the ring with. It poses the question again as to whether the Paul brothers are just that despised or if it is all about the money.

There has been a running list of MMA fighters, professional boxers, and other celebrities: Daniel Cormier, Kamaru Usman, Cody Garbrandt, Dillon Danis, Marvin Vettori, Floyd Mayweather, Gervonta Davis, Antonio Tarver, Tommy Fury, Kendall Gill, Evander Kane, Le’Veon Bell, Anthony Ogogo and Darrell Taylor. Within recent days there have been two additional celebrities who have come out who have an interest in fighting Jake Paul, these names are Lamar Odom and The Game. These well-known celebrities throwing their hat in the ring further exposes the Paul brothers for stacking fights in their favor, promising their opponent a sizeable fighter purse in exchange for a knockout.

The reason that the Paul brothers are so hated in the boxing world is because of their transition from internet stars to fighters. With speculation that the brothers have no talent and are using their names for these headlining fights. According to Boxing Insider, the “younger brother Jake, however, appears to have some talent. He can hit and he takes his professional training very seriously. In other words, he appears to be exactly what he is – an obviously talented fighter whose record now stands at 3-0. Promising, but certainly not defining in his resume”.  Jake seems to be gaining some traction in the industry while Logan has been dabbling in multiple different industries instead of dedicating himself to fighting.

The brothers are not a united front on their careers in the fighting industry. According to sportskeeda and an interview with Jake Paul, he claims, “My brother is f**ked. It’s bad for the sport. I think it’s just for clout. You know my brother is a fake fighter, I’m the real fighter. He’s 0-1-1 and I’m 3-0. But I wish him the best of luck. I am just like… don’t get in there with the guy who has never even been knocked down. He has been knocked down once and that was by accident.” Jake has no faith that his brother is matching his level but is only accepting fights to be making the same money that he is. Following this interview, Logan declared war on his own brother. According to Bleacher Report, Logan came out and said that he “fully supports Jake,” and “whatever drama he wants to stir or create, it really doesn’t bother me. Like, ‘Oh, you’re a fake boxer.’ Okay. Let’s box, because Jake is the kid that gets beat up by my sparring partners. That’s that kid.” This altercation could be another publicity stunt to get them another fight but it also could be a real “beef” that will be an expensive settlement that will surely bring in lots of views and sales.