‘The numbers are putrid, to say the least,’ harrumphed commentator Maura Ranallo at the start of the fourth round of last night’s fight between British boxer Anthony Joshua and American YouTuber Jake Paul. For the first three rounds, Paul skittered around the edges of the unusually large ring, evading Joshua’s every attempt at a setup. Paul had no interest in trying to hit Joshua. Stepping in would have risked being clobbered himself, given the Brit’s far longer reach. Instead, he put his mind towards provoking Joshua by dropping his hands, sticking his tongue out, coming in for a clinch whenever he could.
By the end of the fourth, the referee, Chris Young, was also despairing. He brought the pair together, reminding them that ‘the fans did not pay to watch this crap’. But that was a misunderstanding. Young assumed that the fans had paid to see some boxing. Instead, they had come to see a social media prank of the sort on which Paul had built his career.
Like all good comics, Paul sought to build the anticipation. Those three rounds of dancing around the ring drew a smattering of boos, but they were a necessary price. In the fourth, Paul wrapped both arms around Joshua’s middle and tried to pull him to the floor. The messing around ate up a few more seconds. In the fifth, Paul began to tire. Joshua landed an upper-cut and later a big left, both of which put Paul on his knees.
Boxing has allowed its traditions, history and fans to be appropriated for a series of clown shows
Then, in the sixth, it happened. The moment that the YouTuber had been building towards for months. Exhausted from evading Joshua’s fierce right arm, the man whose oeuvre includes ‘They Covered My Lambourghini in Peanut Butter’, ‘Last One to Get Arrested Wins $25,000’ and ‘I Mixed All the Best Cereals Together!!’, could add another to his collection: ‘I Took A Punch From A Heavyweight Champion!’. Joshua finally had him cornered and landed a right to Paul’s temple. Paul folded immediately, just as anyone who is not a professional heavyweight boxer would do.
Netflix’s cameras remained locked on Paul. With the count complete, Young kept him in the corner. Paul looked up to the heavens, released a deep breath and a hint of a smile passed across his face. This, for Paul, was mission accomplished. Another stunt had gone viral. He was never going to hurt Joshua, a man who has spent more than a decade absorbing punches from some of the most powerful men on the planet. Instead, it was about whether he could withstand a hit from the Brit. That was the sole purpose of Netflix’s production values, the £150 million prize pot, the C-list rappers in the ringside seats and Joshua’s unwise comments about having a ‘licence to kill’. It was all an elaborate setup for a pre-eminent prankster’s latest wheeze.
It turns out that Joshua’s punch was hard enough to break Paul’s jaw. There was plenty of pre-fight speculation about the danger of letting a YouTuber in the ring with a heavyweight champion and the wisdom of the Florida Boxing Commission in sanctioning such a contest. In reality, the pundits who suggested that Paul could be carried out were all providing gristle to the content mill. Joshua, too, allowed himself to be co-opted.
It is worth asking just what AJ was doing in Miami. His career is on a long down-swing, following twin losses to Oleksandr Usyk, which ended his time as a title contender, before a witless defeat to Daniel Dubois in September last year suggested a lack of focus. This was a no-win assignment. Knock Paul down in the first round and he looks like an overmatched flat-track bully. But being kept out much longer risked making him a laughing stock. Perhaps his role was to be the straight man to Paul’s joker, in which case he played his role to perfection. A man with career earnings of $250 million (£187 million) just added another $90 million (£67 million) to his pot.
But, really, all of boxing has allowed itself to be hijacked. Three days before the Jake-vs-Joshua circus, American super middleweight Terrence Crawford announced his retirement, with a 42-0 record. His last outing was a thrilling defeat of Canelo Alvarez, who has been one of the most enduring fighters of the century. It was one of the year’s most remarkable sporting moments, and it attracted a fraction of the attention of Jake Paul’s hijinks.
There is a reason that Paul chose boxing to drive his career. Would he have persuaded Carlos Alvarez to play him at tennis? Or Ferrari to give him a drive at a Grand Prix? Or Arsenal to play him at right back? Tennis, motor racing and football have integrity, structure and self-respect. Boxing has mislaid these attributes. Instead of bringing its best fighters together regularly and promoting the hell out of them, boxing has allowed its traditions, history and fans to be appropriated for a series of clown shows. The sport was last night’s real fall guy.
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