Is Jake Paul Good For The World Of Boxing?

It’s very easy, especially if you are a boxing purist, to dislike Jake Paul. People who are described as “influencers” automatically start at a low point on most people’s totem poles, and only become more so if they decide they want to be taken seriously. Then there are the associations with his brother, who has made frequent questionable decisions through more than a decade in the spotlight. Indeed, many boxing fans would probably pay good money and flock to Cyprus sporting betting sites if there were to be a fight arranged between the Paul brothers, though there is no sign of that happening just yet.

That being said, if you were keen to play “Devil’s Advocate,” there could certainly be a case to be made for Paul being something of an ally to true fight fans. Let’s face it, he has put himself in the ring on more than one occasion, and there has to be a certain amount of appreciation based solely on that. And, as we look closer at the question, we may well find that there is something to be said for having him around. We’re still not going to make a case for Logan, don’t worry.

He’s becoming a thorn in the side of the right people

There’s an old boxing joke that goes along the lines of “If all of the promoters in the world were wiped from existence tomorrow, who would survive?”. The answer is “Boxing”, and there are plenty of reasons why fight fans tend to have at best a complicated relationship with the money men in the sport. While better regulation is preventing the level of exploitation that used to exist in the sport, there is still a sense that less prominent fighters are getting the rough end of deals where they are paid a small purse for a big risk. Jake Paul has gone on record as being prepared to fight for the most important people in the sport to get a fairer deal, and there are few sports where that is needed more.

He puts his money where his mouth is, and vice versa

There is a tendency to dismiss Jake Paul as a self-promoter, and he undoubtedly is precisely that. You don’t become a YouTuber and arrange celebrity boxing matches without being at least a little bit high on your own supply. However, having begun his journey as a content creator, he has been prepared to go in the ring against credible fighters, and won. Even if he’s largely leveraging the fact that people will pay money to see him get punched, there has to be some credence given to his willingness to put himself on the line.

But (there is always a but)

Without going into the details of everything Jake Paul has been accused of, the truth is that he has been credibly called out for behavior that runs along a spectrum from buffoonish to offensive and criminal. In many ways, he is simply a continuation of everything that serious fight fans want boxing to turn its back on. He’d have a much easier time being taken seriously if he avoided creating this type of controversy, and he does the sport no good by getting involved in it. If he wants to be taken seriously, he needs to know that his own conduct will be scrutinised accordingly.