Bad influence
Crossover boxing is grabbing the headlines, whether you like it or not
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Celebrity skin
Boxing sold out Wembley Arena in London on Saturday night.
The same promotional outfit behind last weekend’s event also managed to sell out the O2 Arena in August last year.
The thing is, most of the competitors on both shows have never had a professional fight before. For, you see, while London shows from both Eddie Hearn and Frank Warren in the last year have floundered, with thousands of empty seats and an atmosphere which pales in comparison to that of last Saturday, the KSI-led Misfits Boxing - which focuses on exhibition celebrity and crossover fights - has managed to deliver a roadblock event not once but twice. Their success is undeniable.
Of course, many in boxing see the emergence of the ‘crossover’ boxing scene as a disgrace, an affront to the true sport of pugilism, as exemplified by the thoughts of former two-weight world champion Carl Frampton…
On the flip side, other major boxing names have defended the concept, arguing that it will shine an additional spotlight on the wider sport. The cynic in you thinks that those speaking up for it might see an opportunity to make money in the future, and there will be those who would consider it sacrilege to defend influencer boxing, but its prevalence is in some ways becoming unavoidable.
Either way, Misfits Boxing has managed to make considerable headway in a very short space of time.
Last Saturday saw their fourth MF & DAZN X Series event in total, and their value to DAZN has already been exemplified by the news that the streamer - who themselves have recently reported huge losses despite large subscriber numbers - has snapped up Misfits Boxing events in a new five-year deal. Despite being far removed from the elite level boxing their business was supposedly being built around, there is a palpable considerable value attached to the fledgling organisation in DAZN’s eyes…
Much of the boxing media, especially the YouTube channels which helped drive the growth of boxing in the UK from the mid-2000s onwards, are now covering Misfits shows without a hint of irony. To the untrained eye, these ‘crossover’ cards are presented exactly the same as anything delivered by Matchroom or Queensberry. The presence of a recognisable face such as Kalle Sauerland - who has delivered outstanding events like the World Boxing Super Series in the past and will be front and centre next weekend in the corner of Sky Sports pay-per-view headliner Chris Eubank Jr. - as a partner in Misfits Boxing legitimises things further.
Saturday night’s show was a pay-per-view too, for the comparatively inexpensive UK price of £11.99 ($39.99 in the US), a notion in itself that hardcore boxing fans have scoffed at. Clearly, though, this is becoming a successful business model for a different, younger audience.
The Misfits fanbase is also enjoying the vast majority of the product. Most of the sell-out attendance was actually in the building and engaged from the opening bell of the entire event, which made a refreshing change when most of the time it feels like major sanctioned boxing shows on both sides of the Atlantic are lucky to have half the crowd in the arena prior to the main event…
In Saturday night’s headliner, KSI, the driving force behind Misfits Boxing and the organisation’s current cruiserweight champion, took on Faze Temper. The fight lasted less than a round, and the Wembley Arena attendees loved every second of KSI’s victory.
The undercard featured a ragtag mix of YouTubers, TikTokers, Instagrammers, OnlyFans millionaires, musicians and eSports players. Fights varied from clashes of boxers with pro records (Anthony Taylor vs Idris Virgo) to seemingly complete novices (Elle Brooke vs Faith Ordway). The gimmick of a mystery opponent was utilised on Saturday, and a previous card saw KSI fight twice in a single night.
You can see why traditionalists might be up in arms about the whole thing, but Misfits Boxing could teach ‘real’ boxing a thing or two about marketing their product effectively and catering to their audience.
Having watched the show, while some of the boxing was beyond terrible, the whole energy of the broadcast was undeniable. From a purely presentation perspective, it felt far superior to any major UK boxing event I’ve seen in a while. It felt closer to an expertly-produced WWE broadcast, with the next KSI fight set up at the climax with the ‘invasion’ of David Haye’s mate Joe Fournier to throw out a challenge to the Misfits Boxing co-owner. Fournier has 10 pro fights.
There were also some moments of unquestionable boxing talent on display. KSI has clearly dedicated himself to training in the sport, and Salt Papi stole the show with legit skills, excellent footwork and timing, as he eased to a second-round stoppage win. Papi could be a valuable asset to Misfits going forward.
Novelty boxing events are, of course, nothing new to the crazy world of boxing, a sport which has revelled in the circus element at times over the years. Bizarre, headline-grabbing showdowns with non-boxing outsiders have occurred for decades. I mean, in 1976 Muhammad Ali went 15 supremely odd rounds with Japanese wrestling legend Antonio Inoki in a special rules martial arts showdown reportedly seen by over one billion people.
Charity celebrity boxing events have been a regular occurrence on both sides of the Atlantic since at least the mid-90s, and they’ve mostly been terrible. I mean, if you weren’t one of the more than five million who tuned in to the charity clash of the titans between Ricky Gervais and Grant Bovey (former husband of UK TV presenter Anthea Turner) in 2002 - part of a bizarre period of celebrity boxing being broadcast live on the BBC - then where have you been?
Things feel very different now, however, and far more structured from a business perspective.
They even have their own sanctioning body, the ICB (Influencer Championship Boxing), with Misfits titles so that the boxing newcomers can have belts to look cool with. They have built an entire ecosystem outside of the traditional boxing bubble - the genie is very much out of the bottle either way.
We can be high and mighty about it all being nonsense - I struggle to see a time when Double Dutch will be previewing pure influencer boxing shows which don’t have at least some link to the real stuff - but this is the reality of the world we live in now. If the growth of the influencer fights continues apace then it may be to the detriment of sanctioned boxing in the long term.
The latest explosion of crossover boxing can be traced back to the Floyd Mayweather-Conor McGregor fight in 2017. Despite being two legitimate athletes, the novelty of seeing an MMA star challenge a boxing legend pulled together a wide variety of audiences, and Mayweather-McGregor became a genuine pop culture moment. It was also one of the most successful boxing pay-per-views of all time.
Promoters, fighters and many others - including the weekend warriors of YouTube and beyond - were reminded that, in the Wild West world of boxing, the circus still sells. Big time.
The event that really blew the lid off the crossover thing, however, was KSI vs Logan Paul in August of 2018. Headlining a card which featured a variety of YouTubers and social media ‘names’, the show sold out the 21,000-seat Manchester Arena and achieved 1.3 million pay-per-view buys.
The inevitable KSI-Paul rematch in November 2019 was fought as a professional boxing match, without head guards, and Matchroom’s Eddie Hearn was now involved in the promotion of the thing. Legitimate world-level boxers such as Devin Haney and Billy Joe Saunders defended their world titles on the show and, despite some in boxing defending the event, it was clear that Pandora’s box was being opened for the future.
As Rome burned, the boxing hierarchy fiddled on the sidelines. With influencer boxing on the risk, in the elite of the pro game the likes of Joshua-Fury and Crawford-Spence, amongst many others, continued to fail to materialise, thus creating a yet-wider chasm in which KSI, Paul and others could build their combat sports brands.
Logan’s brother Jake would soon start making major waves with fights on Triller Fight Club shows, leading to him eventually being snapped up by Showtime, one of the grand old dames of legitimate US boxing broadcasting.
Logan Paul facing Floyd Mayweather Jr. in the summer of 2021 in a nondescript exhibition stadium fight articulated just how far influencer boxers had come. Anyone who bought the Mayweather-Paul show on pay-per-view surely can’t have been too thrilled with the lack of action in the main event from a sporting perspective, but perhaps these crossover events are as much about the build-up and general entertainment of the show as the actual action.
Though Logan has yet to fight since, and at the start of 2023 has been dealing with a controversy over his participation in an allegedly dodgy crypto Ponzi scheme, Floyd Mayweather has taken a liking to the low-risk, high-reward world of exhibition fights and now has five of the things under his belt. He last fought Deji, KSI’s brother, in Dubai in November last year.
On the Misfits Boxing show on Saturday, Idris Virgo (with an undefeated 13-fight pro career and appearances on Hennessy Sports cards under his belt) won a fight on the undercard. He intends to continue in the influencer sphere going forward, and his journey might well pique the interest of other up-and-coming pros to consider switching allegiances.
Jake Paul continues to be ever-present in the boxing news cycle, despite having yet to actually face a genuine boxer. Were his off-again, off-again bout with Tommy Fury (the former Love Island UK contestant and half-brother of Tyson Fury) to actually take place this year, it would end up garnering major attention. If Paul fights KSI, as has been mooted, that could end up breaking all sorts of records - the latter has stated that a blockbuster fight with the former is his endgame in the sport.
The growth of social media to become the pre-eminent pastime for the majority of younger people has been an important tenet in the explosion of celebrity and influencer boxing. Content creators no longer need to slog through the traditional route of boxing for years on small hall shows before an opportunity might arise on a major event. The concern from a safety perspective is prevalent, but these rookie influencers can utilise their already-established followers across other platforms and bring them along on their boxing journey.
There is an argument that influencer boxing is a completely different thing to the elite-level stuff, with a totally separate audience, one which could theoretically get hooked on the real thing after being introduced to pugilism by KSI and the like. At this stage, though, the long-term impact on boxing as a whole is difficult to decipher
The question of exactly where this whole ‘crossover’ phenomenon ends is an entirely pertinent one. Maybe it will just be a fad without the groundwork to sustain a consistent schedule of events, or perhaps it will prove durable and stand the test of time. KSI made it clear in the run-up to Saturday night’s event just how deep his ambitions run for the fledgling promotion…
“I want Misfits to be, I always say it, as big as the WWE, as big as the UFC, I want this to be huge. I’m trying to help Misfits be as big as I can. So that when I eventually finish Jake Paul and do whatever, Misfits can stand on its own two legs.”
Traditional boxing still transceneds to the mainstream on occasion - and the likes of Gervonta Davis vs Ryan Garcia, Tyson Fury vs Oleksandr Usyk and Anthony Joshua vs Deontay Wilder have the potential to do some huge numbers this year, if they actually end up happening - but it’s most certainly becoming more of a niche sport more generally as we move through the 2020s.
The fact that Oscar De La Hoya has stated Davis vs Garcia is already in trouble exemplifies the problems the ‘real’ sport faces of its own making…
Mainstream boxing has become so comfortably numb, sullied by agendas and politics, with fighters able to glean untold millions despite the best rarely facing the best - and some star names just rarely fighting at all - that maybe it has been becoming inevitable that this void could be filled by something from left field. Really, the boxing industry only has itself to blame.
Whatever your opinion on the actual sporting element of the influencer invasion, boxing would be well advised to not simply dismiss it out hand when it is reaching and engaging a new generation of fans so effectively. There will always be some sort of audience for the elite-level art form the sport can be at its best, but evolving the build-up and storytelling which once made it so unmissable - and simply delivering cards of fights that their fans are calling out for - should be on the leading promoter and broadcaster’s to-do lists.
In the meantime, influencer boxing looks like it will continue to cross over.
21st January 2023
Chris Eubank Jr. vs Liam Smith
Promoter: Boxxer | TV: Sky Sports Box Office (UK); DAZN (US)
I don’t think this fight is a pay-per-view headliner in itself, let’s start with that. I understand why it’s been put behind a paywall - Sky demands a certain number of pay events per year, Chris Eubank Jr. is one of the few legitimate crossover stars left on the British scene, with an asking price to match, and there is a genuine interest in a domestic dust-up of this nature - but this isn’t a contest which feels unmissable. Although it clearly no longer is, that should be the criteria for what becomes a pay-per-view show.
With that said, however, this has the potential to be an entertaining show for those who do decide to cough up their £19.95 to watch the thing in the UK, with the US and elsewhere saved from paying an additional fee.
The main event, though not a blockbuster fight fans have been salivating over for years, has enough ingredients to deliver an engaging headliner. Eubank Jr. looks to get back on track following the madness of the cancelled (or postponed if Matchroom and Wasserman get their way) Conor Benn collision, as he takes on Liam Smith across 12 middleweight rounds. With no major title or final eliminator status attached, Sky Sports and Boxxer are relying on the admittedly world-class wind-up skills of Eubank to hype the fight, and Sky has produced their usual strong big fight supporting content…
Fighting at his natural middleweight limit, Eubank should, if his performance across the first few rounds against Liam Williams last February is a gauge, have too much for the younger Smith brother. Liam has, however, delivered some of the best performances of his career over the last few years, and is a former WBO champion down at light middleweight. For both men, defeat here probably ends any lingering hopes of a middleweight world title shot at a time when the division appears to be at a crossroads, with leading lights Gennady Golovkin and Jermall Charlo both seemingly on the verge of leaving the 160-pound arena.
The undercard somewhat harkens back to the glory days of Matchroom on Sky, in that it isn’t entirely terrible and does offer some legitimately well-matched contests, though Ben Shalom and Boxxer still have some way to go to match the storytelling and upselling abilities of Eddie Hearn in his 2010s Sky pomp. Very few British boxing events feel as essential as they did a few years back, at least for me.
Richard Riakpohre, one of the new era of Sky’s success stories and a highly-ranked fighter who is potentially on the cusp of a cruiserweight world title tilt, occupies the co-main position opposite Krzysztof Glowacki. A former WBO world champion who has shared the ring with the leading lights of the division, at 36 years old (and having been dismantled with relative ease by Lawrence Okolie almost two years ago now) Glowacki now gives off gatekeeper vibes and offers the potential for a fairly notable scalp for Riakpohre’s record. The less said about the mismatch of heavyweight contender Joseph Parker - looking to bounce back from being bulldozed by ‘The Juggernaut’ Joe Joyce last year - taking on career cruiserweight Jack Massey at the higher weight, the better; odds of 1/10 for Parker from the bookmakers say it all really.
At the other end of the spectrum, the British & Commonwealth welterweight fight between Ekow Essuman and Chris Congo has the potential to steal the show. An evenly-matched showdown between two fighters on the verge of stepping up to world level, this feels like the toughest one to call on the entire card. Far tougher, in fact, than the result of the next bout of the mainly disappointing pro career so far of Olympic medallist Frazer Clarke, who takes on Kevin Nicolas Espindola, BoxRec’s 375th-best heavyweight in the world who is coming off three losses in a row. Though it would still be an uninspiring match-up whatever the circumstances, the fact that Clarke is already 31 years old dictates that he really should be moved somewhat more rapidly than this if he wants to get close to achieving world honours.
In a fascinating development from a sport in which the business machinations are regularly more interesting than the fights themselves, this event will be carried in the US and other markets by DAZN, at no additional cost, marking a first for a Boxxer event.
Considering that Boxxer replaced Matchroom on Sky Sports after Eddie Hearn’s outfit departed their long-time broadcast partner to go exclusive with DAZN, and that Sky now has a hook-up with Top Rank as well, this move is surely putting someone’s nose out of joint a little. Perhaps there is some preparation for a major Eubank fight later this year on DAZN with Matchroom’s involvement, and Wasserman - who are co-promoting this event - have a pre-existing relationship with the streamer which carries Misfits Boxing amongst other touchpoints. It’s still an interesting footnote in an industry rife with feuds and in-fighting, demonstrating a potential further change in the landscape of British boxing in 2023.
The words of Joe Markowski, EVP of DAZN North America and a long-time ally of Eddie Hearn, on the agreement struck me as particularly fascinating; “In 2023, we are determined to work with as many promoters as we can in order to deliver the best fights for fight fans and with actions speaking louder than words we are excited to be working for the first time with Boxxer on this special event.” I’d love to know what the Matchroom team really think about this behind closed doors, with exactly what this augers for the future up in the air as well.
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28th January 2023
Artur Beterbiev vs Anthony Yarde
Promoter: Frank Warren | TV: BT Sport (UK); ESPN+ (US)
Next Saturday night sees the UK pro debut of one of the truly elite fighters active in the sport today as Artur Beterbiev - the fearsome unified WBC, IBF and WBO light heavyweight champion with a record of 18-0 and a 100% knockout rate - defends his lofty crown against mandatory challenger Anthony Yarde, who despite suffering two defeats has himself forced stoppages in 22 of his 23 victories.
This one has all the makings of a war, for however long it lasts.
Beterbiev strikes me as an archetypal example of boxing’s inability to make the most of what it has at its disposal. A quiet, unassuming individual outside of the ring, without the kind of brash personality adopted by so many in the sport, the Canada-based Russian is a wrecking machine inside it, with power which would trouble anyone in any era. Were he an MMA fighter with the same background and of similar explosive skill level, then the UFC would have unquestionably made a much better fist of creating a superstar of Beterbiev than Top Rank and other promoters have done. The concept of accentuating the positives and hiding the negatives is intrinsic to promoting fighters like Beterbiev, but no promoter has managed to crack the code to take his notoriety beyond boxing aficionados.
As it is, he remains hugely appreciated by hardcore fans but criminally undervalued by a more mainstream audience. His total demolition of Joe Smith Jr. last June in just two rounds, in what was supposed to be at least a partial test for Beterbiev, was a crystal clear example of how, at the age of 37, the light heavyweight kingpin isn’t in much danger of slowing down any time soon.
Perhaps a showdown, maybe even a series, with fellow light heavyweight luminary Dmitry Bivol is the fight he needs to become a crossover star, but who knows when or if that will end up happening.
That is, of course, assuming he carries on winning against Yarde. A divisive figure in some circles, ‘The Beast From the East’ has stuck by his coach Tunde Ajayi despite calls from many that his undoubted talent is being squandered somewhat through some questionable training strategies and a lack of real tactical nous, especially after his points defeat to Lyndon Arthur behind closed doors in December 2020. In the aftermath, team Yarde added the expertise of former British and European champion James Cook, with a clinical fourth-round stoppage of Arthur in their rematch one year on seeming to indicate the value of this move. That victory appears to be the main argument for his status as a mandatory challenger to Beterbiev.
This is Yarde’s second tilt at a world title, the first being his journey to Russia in 2019 to challenge then-WBO light heavy champ Sergey Kovalev. Despite seemingly being one punch away from stopping the veteran Russian ‘Krusher’ in the eighth round, Yarde perhaps showed his inexperience by tiring himself out with this salvo, eventually being stopped by a jab in the eleventh round. Many called for Yarde to ditch Ajayi after this result, as they have before, sensing a marketable and talented fighter with considerable punching power wasn’t making the most of their potential, but he has stuck with his trainer, claimed to have made the necessary adjustments, and once again has a shot at becoming a world champion, this time with an even more difficult assignment in front of him.
Having watched his career in detail, I would struggle to back against Beterbiev - perhaps with the exception of the totally fascinating clash of styles that would be the Bivol fight - but Yarde will certainly give it his all, which should make for a thrilling spectacle either way. Beterbiev goes into this as a 1/10 betting favourite, but that doesn’t fully exemplify how exciting this one could be. Even if it only goes a few short, explosive rounds.
The undercard features another world title fight, with long-reigning WBA flyweight champion Artem Dalakian making the sixth defence of his title against undefeated David Jiménez. A win for either makes the possibility of a future unification fight with the division’s IBF titlist Sunny Edwards (which would need to be in the UK in light of the latter’s alleged inability to travel to the US thanks to his links to Daniel Kinahan), or maybe the impressive Jesse Rodriguez should he win his planned April vacant WBO flyweight title showdown with Cristian Gonzalez, a distinct possibility.
There are also runouts for some of Frank’s prospects, such as Karol Itauma and Charles Frankham, with perhaps the most interesting fight of this group coming in the form of Willy Hutchinson’s WBO Intercontinental light heavyweight title fight opposite the highly experienced Emil Markic. Hutchinson, a former youth world champion who I have been exceedingly high on in the past, is still recovering from what remains a surprise stoppage defeat to Lennox Clarke for the British super middleweight title back in March 2021.
Hutchinson, who still undoubtedly has the talent to go a long way in the sport, has since changed trainers and wracked up two decisive KO wins at 175 pounds. As an interesting aside, Hutchinson’s career has been overseen by Shelly Finkel, the legendary manager who has looked after the likes of Mike Tyson, Manny Pacquiao and Vladimir Klitschko in days of yore, and retains Deontay Wilder as a client today, so if Hutchinson can get his career back on track he has the team to deliver him opportunities on both sides of the Atlantic.