Jake Paul, boxing, and the fight that wasn’t
NO SPORT honours its past more than boxing does. And no sport does more to disrespect it.
On August 6, social media personality turned boxer Jake Paul was expected to fight Hasim Rahman Jnr in the big arena at Madison Square Garden, heralded by massive publicity. The headline bout and key supporting contests (most notably, Amanda Serrano vs 25/1 underdog Brenda Karen Carabajal) were to be televised in the US on Showtime-PPV and in the UK by DAZN.
Then the walls came tumbling down.
There have always been circus-like sideshows in boxing. In the 1800s, John L Sullivan fought all comers in cross-country tours. More than a century later, glamour model Jordan Carver and adult film star Melanie Müller did battle in Dusseldorf, Germany, over four heated rounds made notable by the fact that Michael Buffer served as ring announcer for the contest.
Muhammad Ali squared off against Antonio Inoki and Lyle Alzado. Chuck Wepner faced Andre the Giant. Mark Gastineau and Jose Conseco tried their hand at ring combat. Danny Bonaduce (The Partridge Family) fought Barry Williams (The Brady Bunch). Manute Bol exchanged punches with William “The Refrigerator” Perry. Tonya Harding took on Paula Jones. Joey Buttafuoco (lover of Amy Fisher, aka “The Long Island Lolita”) traded blows with Chyna, who was billed by the World Wrestling Federation as “The Ninth Wonder of the World” (Andre the Giant being the eighth).
But these events were sideshows. The difference now is that the sideshows are becoming boxing’s showcase events. More and more, trash boxing is how the sport is being portrayed by the powers that be and perceived by the general public.
Enter Jake Paul, whose videos have engendered hundreds of millions of views on social media platforms
Paul is a 25-year-old entertainer with various anti-social acts on
