By Jake Tiernan: Matthew Macklin believes that Youtuber boxing like we saw last Sunday with the Jake Paul-Tommy Fury fight, could ultimately hurt the sport because it’s crowding out real fighters with ability.
The reason for that is the networks are increasingly giving more air time to the Youtuber/influencer boxers, which is consuming their budget, leaving little money left to give airtime to the talented professional fighters that have been working at the sport for many years.
If the real boxers aren’t allowed to have their fights shown by the networks because they’re using up their limited budget for boxing by broadcasting Youtuber fights, it could ultimately hurt the sport.
Unlike real boxers, Jake Paul and Tommy Fury don’t figure to have a long shelf life, as they’re novice fighters with no real ability.
Once they start repeatedly losing on the Youtuber circuit, fans won’t want to continue watching them, and their replacements will be similar influencers with a short shelf life of their own.
“These people aren’t boxing fans. They’re Youtuber fans. They’re Jake Paul fans or KSI fans,” said Matthew Macklin to Sky Sports.
“For any promoter, any television network, there’s only so much money in a budget. If that’s being spent on these YouTuber fights because they’re getting more attention and making more money, then it’s sucking it out of the budget left for real boxers,” Macklin said.
“What about the ABA champion who’s knocking on the door for a British title? Where’s his airtime? How’s he standing the chance of getting any publicity?” said Macklin.
The networks focus on what sells, and they have little reason to broadcast real boxing fights if they’re not attracting as much interest as the Youtuber fights.
So instead of showing quality fighters, the networks are focusing on showing Youtubers/influencers who come with huge social media followings and that bring their audience due to their many subscribers.
MMA is already taking fans away from boxing, and like with Youtubers; their fighters have a short shelf life because it’s impossible to stay on top of that sport for any length of time. Everything is short-term.
Youtubers are the equivalent of candy, meaning they’re good for a brief period, but in the long run, it’s not good for the sport’s health.
