There was barely a minute and 44 seconds left for the sixth round bell when Anthony Joshua finally landed a clean uppercut on the face of Jake Paul at the Kaseya Center in Miami. The youtuber endured and stuck out his tongue in a mocking manner, but he knew that his life depended on receiving the least damaging punch from the Brit, which came shortly after. A direct hit to the body and a devastating hook to the jaw. Result: knockout, two titanium plates in the jaw, and a purse of 184 million dollars, the fourth largest in boxing history. But, was this really boxing?
"It has more of a show than boxing, but it is boxing," explains Jaime Ugarte, a journalist specialized in this sport who describes Paul as a "showman" who "trains like a mule." "He is an Ibai multiplied by 10," points out the professional. In fact, the American has nearly 30 million followers on social media and videos with hundreds of millions of views.
Whatever it may be, Paul achieved his goal of once again putting boxing in the global spotlight as he did with his confrontation against Mike Tyson. A fight, Tyson's, that accumulated 65 million simultaneous connections for a total of 108 million who watched at least a minute of the bout. Until Netflix, the platform that has repeated as the streaming producer, makes the figures of the event official, it will not be known if the controversial internet figure has managed to surpass his own audience record, but economically, he has certainly exceeded it by far.
Despite the attraction generated by Tyson's return to the ring, the purse for that fight exceeded 60 million euros. However, the bout against Joshua raised the sum for the boxers to 184 million dollars, which was split equally, and part of which could already be seen distributed by a private jet in a social media post by Paul himself. But the total revenue figure would rise to 267 million dollars when adding broadcasting rights, sponsorships, digital advertising, and ticket sales, figures comparable to iconic fights from previous decades.
Only Floyd Mayweather has managed to surpass the earnings generated by the Paul vs Joshua fight. That's why he was nicknamed Money. The highest purse in history could only be from the fight that pitted him against Manny Pacquiao, which reached 542 million dollars. The second was the spectacle, more than a fight, between him and Connor McGregor, 510. And the third was the one that paired him with Canelo Álvarez, which rose to 193 million.
It is precisely the Mexican who is the object of desire for Jake Paul even before the fight with Joshua. A fight to which the Brit joined after Gervonta Davis was accused by his ex-partner of assault, and perhaps one in which Paul would have had more chances to extend the fight. It is not the same to face the 166 centimeters and 61 kilograms with which the American competes in the lightweight division, even if the fight was agreed upon at 88 kilograms, as facing the 110 kilograms that the Brit weighed in at and his almost two meters in height. "It is disrespectful to jump from Davis to Joshua, but he knows that his business lies in facing big names," the journalist points out.
Not only is it disrespectful, it is also dangerous. The Brit was seen holding back his punches during the first part of the fight, as Mohammed Ali used to say "to allow for commercials," until his patience and the youtuber's legs wore out. In fact, social media has resurfaced videos from the Tyson fight, which Paul won on points, showing how the former heavyweight champion held back his punches at certain moments when Paul let his guard down. Despite this, the content creator even received praise from Donald Trump: "Congratulations to Jake for his endurance and skill against a bigger man."
"It was a good ass-kicking by the best who has done it so far. I love it," were Paul's words right after the fight, followed by a post on social media: "Great experience. I love this sport. Time to recover and return to the cruiserweight division. Who do you want to see me fight?". By distributing these purses, almost any boxer wants him as an opponent both for the economic gain and the media attention. "I understand his ability to create his product from boxing, but it's a show," concludes Ugarte. A show that once again puts the spotlight on a sport in which one of our national champions, Sandor Martín, fought and won in Bilbao on the same weekend, but did not generate the same media impact.