Sports

The Youtube Con: How Jake Paul Is Ruining Boxing

Darren - February 28, 2023
Sports

The Youtube Con: How Jake Paul Is Ruining Boxing

Darren - February 28, 2023

New York Times

Boring Fighter

One of the myths about Paul’s boxing career is that he is one of the most exciting athletes on the planet. The reality is that he has very average skills and struggles with the fundamentals. His footwork is terrible and he over-relies on his power. Yes, he got some highlight reel finishes but the overall fights were garbage.

CNN

Paul clinches like a child hugging their mother on the first day of school. The Woodley fights were terrible and it was lucky that he smashed him. The problem is that casuals think this is high-level boxing. It’s bad for the sport because they may think it’s boring and the quality is shocking (via Manchester Evening News).

The Independent

Rigged Contract Rumors

Let’s caveat this by saying there’s never been hard evidence that Paul rigged his fights. However, a leaked script before the Fury bout ignited fears that this was a scam. It wasn’t the first time that Paul attracted heat as people accused Tyron Woodley of diving. In the end, he lost the Fury fight and this wasn’t in the script.

Marca

Even if Paul doesn’t rig the fights it’s clear he has the referees and commentary on his side. He received biased decisions in all of his bouts. Meanwhile, the commentators always favor him and overlook the opponent’s good work. Furthermore, they even interviewed his brother in the middle of the Fury bout (via SportBible).

Fox News

Old Anderson

It says a lot about Paul’s career that his best win was over a 47-year-old MMA fighter. Anderson Silva is brilliant but he’s not the wizard that he was as a young man. In the end, Paul’s conditioning was too much for the Brazilian legend as he won a decision. But it left a bad taste in many people’s mouths.

AS USA

That’s because they don’t want to see their favorite MMA fighters risk their health against a man in his prime. Paul tried to paint the narrative that he defeated a striking icon but this isn’t true. He beat Silva’s shadow in a tight match-up that didn’t excite the masses. That’s the story of Paul’s boxing career (via MSN).

The U.S. Sun

Team 1000

This is the second part of Paul’s exploitative money-making schemes. After people joined Edfluence they could take another step and join Team 1000. They paid $57 for the privilege of joining his famous Internet clique. But this proved to be a scam and they only received a few bonus videos.

Sportsnet

Meanwhile, the original website for Edfluence no longer exists so people lost their purchases. Amazingly, Paul got away with this but he attracted a lot of condemnation. Somehow, he retains a massive and loyal fanbase. It doesn’t matter that he doesn’t care about anybody but himself (via CCN).

SCMP

Exploits Older Fighters

Another issue with Paul is that he is exploiting older fighters. He recognizes that they have limited options after they leave the UFC. Then he teases them with the chance of a major payday before humiliating them. It says a lot that he fought a pair of smaller wrestlers and a quinquagenarian in Anderson Silva (via The Mirror).

The Independent

Meanwhile, he is interested in facing Nate Diaz because of the MMA legend’s profile. Remember, Diaz has a lot of scar tissue on his face and is smaller than Paul. It’s another winnable match-up for ‘The Problem Child.’ He also had links to a clash with Michael Bisping. The former UFC middleweight champion has one eye and underwent multiple knee surgeries.

The Independent

The Fury Loss

Paul is a fraud because he lost against the first proper boxer he fought. Remember, Tommy Fury doesn’t belong in the same conversation as his brother Tyson. The younger Fury’s wins came against opponents with a collective record of 24-176-5. This is ludicrous but he was still better at boxing than Paul’s previous MMA rivals.

Sky News

The YouTuber had no answer for Fury’s jab and spent more time clinching than anything else. He claimed one knockdown but didn’t win that round either because he lost a point. The split decision was a joke but that’s typical of boxing’s corruption. Finally, the world discovered Paul’s level and realized that level isn’t very good (via The Guardian).

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