Former world heavyweight boxing champion, Anthony Olaseni Oluwafemi Joshua’s decision to fight social media influencer, Jake Paul, has been tagged ‘the victory of entertainment over sports.’
Sports247 reports that Joshua lived up to his billing by knocking Paul out in the sixth round of their fight that was meant to go up to eight chapters, but that has not stopped critics from whipping the Nigerian-born fighter continuously.
While Joshua and his apologists would point out that it was not an easy night for the former two-time world champion, a fresh counter-argument has emerged that Friday’s fight was not a stiff competition between both men.
The latest inference is that it was all about social media content, razzmatazz, and making money from hype, not about the fisticuffs that the fighters eventually exchanged in the roped squad in Miami, Florida, USA.
Sarcasm over the ‘death of boxing at the feet of entertainment’ was buoyed in a script by Jeff Powell of British tabloid, Daily Mail, who insinuated that there was a pre-fight agreement between both boxers.
The often-expressive writer pointed out as much in a kicker to his headline moments after the fight, with a rhetorical question that pondered: ‘Was Anthony Joshua’s win over Jake Paul scripted? We may never get the complete story…’
Powell stated in part: “The driving force bringing this unlikely pairing together has been Netflix, their oodles of money and their 300 million subscribers around the world. That’s entertainment.
“Like it or not when the sport is overshadowed by the show. And it is difficult to deny that Jake, the multi-tasker, knows how to put on the razzle dazzle. Nor his willingness to take risks in his portfolio of businesses, including his boxing.
“Despite that juvenile trademark yelling by American announcers exhorting the crowd to ‘make some noise’, the atmosphere to begin with was more one of fascination than frenzy.
“When the drum is as big as a $140m kitty, it has to be banged lustily. Whether the stars were in perfect shape physical for this occasion was a question which could only be answered in a ring enlarged from the customary 20 square feet to 22.”
