Jake Paul vs. Ben Askren
I didn’t ask for this, did you?
I swear if it weren’t for who Jake Paul is, I’d have to give him some credit. He’s managed to capitalize on one of the more lucrative trends in media: hate-watching.
Paul is one of (if not the most) controversial subjects on the internet. This controversy seems to run in the family, as his brother has faced his own share of controversy. However, I will give Logan some credit, he seems to have largely reformed his image and has been putting out some really great content with his podcast.
Jake, conversely, has gone the slightly more volatile route and engaged in multiple boxing fights over the course of the last several months. The latest fight between himself and pro wrestler Ben Askren has proved to be the biggest of them all. According to reports, the event garnered massive pay-per-view success with over 1 million confirmed buys. Estimates are putting this at around $75 million generated.
This nifty chart from TheSun.co.uk shows just how impressive this really is.
This fight has certainly resulted in quite the profit for all involved, Paul and Askren.
The Results of The Fight
Now for those that didn’t see the fight, I’ll save you a few seconds. Jake Paul knocked Ben Askren out cleanly in the first 2 minutes of the fight.
This is, of course, disappointing to those that hate-watched the fight in hopes of seeing Paul get beaten. On the flip side, one of the people that seemed largely unbothered by the result of the fight was Askren himself. He earned at least $500,000 from the fight, win or lose, and can be seen smiling with his wife on his way out of the ring.
Now, does this mean the fight was rigged in some way? I don’t really think so.
I’d say that it’s certainly far more likely that Jake has been training for months, even before Askren agreed to this fight, in boxing. Askren, on the other hand, is a wrestler. His entire edge in MMA was that he could compete on the ground. Similar to when Conor McGregor fought Floyd Mayweather, there are a lot of differences between the two sports.
Askren also doesn’t really have much to prove, he’s already competed at the highest level and he’s at the end of his career. This was a casual, money-making potential for him plain and simple. I don’t think that excuses his apparent lack of preparedness, but it does provide an explanation for his underperformance.
Now, that’s not to say that Jake Paul is some A-class fighter, but he’s certainly not weak or untrained. Paul is going to have to step up for his next fight and prove to the world that he can fight a real, trained boxer.
What’s the point?
Well, as I mentioned before, this was an incredible example of hate-watching. I’d argue that the vast share of the viewership were not “Jake Paul fans.” In fact, one of the hosts of the event Pete Davidson said as much and openly ridiculed Jake during the event. He even sat down with Askren before the fight and joked about how Jake Paul is a “piece of sh*t.”
Regardless, he was able to create quite the spectacle and generate a massive amount of viewership and revenue. Despite Paul’s various character flaws, he is an excellent marketer. He’s able to capitalize on the general public’s hope for his downfall, and people seem to be viewing and buying accordingly.
This is an excellent example of the climate we’re in on the internet. The bar that is being set by Paul is both good and bad. It shows that an “internet personality” can transcend that medium and create one of the most-watched paper-view events of all time. It also shows that people are willing to pay out in droves when it comes to hate-watching something together. My sincerest hope is that with this new bar of production quality and viewer count, we might see some positive content created alongside it. I do remain skeptical of this, but it is a hope I hold on to nonetheless.
Finally, as far as Paul and his boxing career, I’m very interested to see who his next opponent will be. Yes, even I am going to watch alongside the world to see where this thing goes. I think, after the revenue generated by this fight, it’s not completely unlikely that the likes of Conor McGregor take notice. Paul has already been calling him out for a while, and he’s been quoted saying that that fight has become “more realistic” after his knockout against Askren.
I don’t necessarily want to pay for that fight, but I wouldn’t say no to watching it either.
We’ve truly entered a new realm of social media and live events. It doesn’t matter if you love or hate the people involved, this space is exploding and it’s going to be very interesting to watch as it continues. I’m very intrigued to see where we end up over the next few years.