This was getting a lot of buzz today where a boxing match has been made official that involves an influencer named Jake Paul versus an actual former professional boxing champion Mike Tyson. It seemed like Jake Paul was going through amateur fighters fairly quickly and one of the remarks was that he needs to start fighting actual professionals. No one will argue Mike Tyson isn’t a legitimate professional boxer. But with that people started to criticize how he is older and way past his prime going against a much younger person.
That then brought up the topic on how ultimately these promotions are about making money versus just people trying to go against the most challenging opponents. I don’t think anyone would argue that Mike Tyson is a huge draw in this case where virtually any promotion would want to have him in it. Even for the fighters, I would imagine they would much rather go against someone who can help create box office records as an example from a business point of view.
I actually know people who do that where they always try and go against people who they think they can win against as the constant victories give them notoriety to be able to say charge people more for their items. Losing to another will kind of shatter that aura. This is a prime example I guess on doing something that’s best for business versus actually focusing on just a skill competition. I remember early on when the UFC started there were accusations that the Gracie family intentionally set the event up to try and favor their jujitsu martial arts style. Whether that is indeed the case or not, just winning in such an event definitely made their clubs shoot up in value and demand.