Hearn on more Youtube fights- ‘Much more likely’

Matchroom Boxing promoter Eddie Hearn off of last weekend’s boxing card which was headlined by Youtube stars KSI and Logan Paul at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, changed his tone in terms of having more Youtube stars on boxing cards.

Speaking in an interview with Boxingscene.com, Hearn stated that he pleased with how the whole event turned out.

“It has actually [changed my stance]. We’re numbers people in this game. Everyone is. Anything that delivers is good news for everybody. What we can’t do is turn into a circus and have random people fighting each other all over the place,” Hearn said to BoxingScene.

“It’s a one off in that respect for me in terms of headlining a card, with a world championship undercard. I don’t think you’re going to see that a lot. Will you see other YouTubers fight on undercards moving forward? Much more likely.”

Eddie Hearn Switches Stance, Considering More YouTuber Fights https://t.co/sAtWIMIvfZ pic.twitter.com/K004wI7v4Q

— BoxingScene.com (@boxingscene) November 16, 2019

DAZN earlier in the week after the fight sent out a survey to select customers (Shockingly, I didn’t get it) which included asked a series of questions like “imagine there was a boxing tournament that featured YouTube / celebrity personalities that ran throughout the year. How interested would you be in a boxing competition like that?” and “are they any other YouTubers or celebrities that you would like to see fight in a boxing match?”

“If it’s thrilling, if it’s exciting, you’re going to see many more of these, and it won’t just come from me,” said Hearn. “It will come from other promoters who look at the numbers and say, ‘we’ve got to do this.’ We can’t satisfy the demand of all of these celebrities and YouTubers.”

While boxing purists and those who saw the card will probably collectively groan at that statement, Hearn is right in that aspect. Award winning film maker Jay Chaundry on his Twitter last week, tweeted that the Google Analytics showing the increase in visibility and interest was there for this event and the fighters involved which included Devin Haney and Billy Joe Saunders.

For those are who are concerned about @Realdevinhaney and @bjsaunders_ exposure. Both of their names have shot up in Google analytics and have more than a million impressions since yesterdays weigh in. 2 put things in perspective, Spence/Porter porter had 55,000 their fight week pic.twitter.com/qD2UhxSllR

— Jay Chaudhry (@producer_jayc) November 10, 2019

“We saw fighter’s numbers grow digitally and socially through this event. It’s a big opportunity for them,” said Hearn. “It’s been amazing to learn about this experience and learn [KSI and Logan Paul’s] business. These guys are very smart people. Looking at the pre-buy numbers was blowing my mind. It was at the same level as an Anthony Joshua fight, or even bigger. They have earned the right to be here because they’ve built a brand and profile and they are taking it seriously.”

We’ll wait in the US from DAZN to show the numbers which Hearn hinted that we should’ve seen by now. While I feel that the interest in this fight was obviously there, until they show stateside the numbers here, I’ll continue to be skeptic as I should considering earlier in the week  I wrote that over eleven thousand people illegally streamed the fight adding up to zero dollars and zero cents in revenue.