The fight business is as much if not more so, the entertainment business. Prize fighting is about revenue and paydays, not pure competition. The Olympics can determine the best pure fighter, capitalism might do the same, but only by mere coincidence as the pro ranks judge, at least primarily, the best box office.
There was no better example of that than this weekend's Netflix presentation of social media star, Jake Paul vs. the former two-time heavyweight champion, Anthony Joshua. The British technician stepped in on a month's notice after the original opponent, Gervonta Davis was canceled from the bout after he was named in a domestic violence lawsuit.
As with almost all Paul bouts, there was a gimmick to the presentation as "Tank" Davis fought in the lightweight division. Of course, when Joshua took the contest, it was a sideshow on the other end of the spectrum, as Paul usually fights in the weight class beneath him, the cruiser weight division.
Given the nature of the size and experience advantage that Joshua had, even as an underachieving heavyweight in recent years, he was still a two-time titleholder that had competed against legitimate competition throughout his career. As I wrote in a column about the initial announcement of the event, Joshua was competitive, beating solid opponents, but managed to lose key bouts that kept him out of the truly top-tier of the heavyweight division. He was surprisingly knocked out by Andy Ruiz before he avenged the loss and then eventually lost a pair of fights to Oleksandr Usyk, the current linear world champion. The timing of those losses derailed any plans for anticipated bouts against Deontay Wilder or Tyson Fury, both former champions that have lost their luster in recent years as well. The last time Joshua was in the ring, he was knocked out by Daniel Dubois in the fifth round last September.
Still, despite the rough patch, and some that thought that perhaps his days as a truly competitive heavyweight might be behind him, especially with the hiatus from the sport, Anthony Joshua was a major favorite based on the fact that Paul had only 14 pro fights, with one amateur bout before that. The unvarnished reality of the situation is that the mediocre Tommy Fury, who is only known as the former heavyweight champion's brother, is the most credible opponent that he had. Paul lost that contest via decision.
The bottom line is, Jake Paul would have to channel something even more of a long shot than James "Buster" Douglas against a prime Mike Tyson if he was going to get a victory over a two-time heavyweight champion.
I say all of that to say this, there were senate hearings about crooked fights as far back as 1960, and when there's an estimated $92 million, the reported amount that Joshua was paid, on the table, anything is possible. Don't get me wrong, if Paul and Joshua can make that kind of cash for one fight, good for them, that's capitalism, but the economics of such an event, especially for a sideshow fight, is almost ludicrous.
Regardless, Joshua, particularly when his profile is at a lower point after the previously mentioned KO loss against Dubois, the bottom line is, simply isn't making that type of money with anyone else besides Jake Paul.
That's why I don't think the fight was necessarily fixed, but I honestly don't think it was on the level either.
If pro wrestling has taught us anything, there's a difference between going over and getting over. Anthony Joshua went over with a stinging KO in the sixth round, landing two or three solid punches before Paul hit the canvas. That being said, I think there was more of an orchestrated attempt for Jake Paul to "get over" in the process. The sharp and rightful criticism of him is that he hasn't fought any prime legitimate boxers so he took a fight where he was finally the one at a noticeable disadvantage. Jake Paul can say that he went six rounds with a former two-time heavyweight champion, he "stepped up to the plate" to fight one of the better known heavyweight of the modern era.
Where I'd suspect the work is in all of this is that prior to the contracts being signed for the previously mentioned $92 million payday, I wouldn't be shocked if that was a "gentleman's agreement" of sorts to allow Jake Paul to make it through at least half of the fight so that he could save face regardless of the result. If there was an agreement, after the half way point of the fight might've been when both sides agreed to let the result unfold however the legitimate rounds took it. Usually, I'm not a conspiracy theorist (although, was there anyone on the grassy knoll?), but the first few rounds were so suspiciously stagnant that it appeared that something had to be off about it. For example, there were several times within the first three rounds that Paul looked to be clearly open to take a punch, but Joshua simply didn't throw any punches. Furthermore, when he did start to throw jabs, they looked to be as though he wasn't trying to follow through to actually make contact. The punch stats told the story, as there were a few rounds early in the bout where the amount of punches thrown was in the single digits.
It looked like comically bad acting as Paul circled toward his opponent's right hand, which is the completely wrong defensive move, but somehow, Joshua didn't attempt a right hook. You can call it trying to give the fans a show, but that's a rather weak excuse, specifically because the lack of action wasn't exactly thrilling the crowd.
That's really the sum total of all of this, it was a massive payday for Paul and Joshua, but it did absolutely zero for the sport of boxing. The brilliant Canelo Alvarez vs. Terrance Crawford bout this past September was a prime example of when two of the best in the sport square off, but that was for the purists, at least in the United States. The sad reality is, boxing doesn't have a mainstream star in the United States right now. Floyd Mayweather, for all of his faults, was a defensive machine and used a villain persona for the public to take notice when he fought, ironically the same tactic that Paul uses to draw numbers. If anything, this event might've sounded some of the causal fans on the sport if they were honestly expecting so type of competitive bout. It sounds silly to anyone that has followed the sport for any length of time, but there's a portion of the general public that don't follow boxing, but tuned in to see the social media star fight. From that perspective, it doesn't create any anticipation for the next boxing event on Netflix since the production that was built into a spectacle was a snooze fest for the majority of the time it was in the ring.
Post-fight, Anthony Joshua called for a fight with the previously mentioned Tyson Fury, which might be more realistic now after Fury lost a pair of contest against Usyk last year. That being said, I'm not sure how much interest that would actually draw, especially after it took Joshua six rounds to finish Jake Paul. Obviously, if Joshua would've lost to Paul, his career would've basically been over, and he took that relatively small risk in exchange for the big payoff. That said, despite the KO victory, nothing that the British fighter did in the bout suggests that he would be in top form for a fight against a legitimately dangerous opponent such as Tyson Fury. For Jake Paul, he claims to have a broken jaw, but given his track record, who knows if that's legitimate?
Since the premise for Paul's drawing power was to see him get knocked out, I'm not sure how much of that he will retain going forward. Don't get me wrong, it's possible that his following could continue to pay to see him fight, but I'm not a part of the target demographic so any projections would merely be a guess. I will still say that something wasn't completely above board, as everyone finished with a level of shine. Joshua got the KO victory in front of a massive viewing audience, which could potentially reignite his career, Jake Paul can say that he went six rounds with a legitimate former heavyweight champion, and everyone involved made money for the event.
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