Conor McGregor vs Logan Paul will be bigger than the Mayweather fights: Here’s why that’s an issue for Boxing
The potential of a Conor McGregor vs. Logan Paul crossover bout might have a bad outcome for the sport of boxing.
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Conor McGregor might fight Logan Paul next (Image via Imago)
Conor McGregor is still the biggest superstar that MMA has, but it will be a long time before we actually see him in the octagon again. Even with him being extremely controversial, even with him having lost the last three of his four fights, even with his legal troubles…the Notorious one will still make a huge amount of money and generate a massive amount of buzz wherever he fights next.
McGregor set the MMA world on fire when he tweeted on December 17th, claiming that he was in talks to fight Logan Paul in a boxing exhibition before he returns to the UFC. The tweet has over 47 thousand likes as of writing, showing just how far-reaching his influence is even after everything damaging that has happened to his personal brand over the last few years.
Logan Paul vs Conor McGregor – The ‘Influencer’ Fight of the Century
I do not doubt for a second that McGregor is telling the truth when it comes to negotiations for a boxing bout against Logan Paul. As I’ve written about in the past, McGregor will likely fight as soon as he can, after he lost his civil case against Nikita Hand a few weeks back.
With Notorious losing his Proper Twelve Whiskey deal and his Forged Stout distribution suffering losses of around €11 million, he needs to go back to his bread and butter: combat sports. McGregor’s return to the octagon will be big business, there’s no doubt about that. However, a fight against someone with the marketing savvy of a Logan Paul will be next level.
Both Paul and the Irishman have fought Floyd Mayweather in the past. When the fight is confirmed it will do bigger numbers and revenue than either of those fights, and therein lies the real issue with modern-day boxing.
The Sweet Science no more
We are no longer in an era where the majority of the PPV-buying public wants to see the two best competitors in a boxing ring. That doesn’t appear to be an issue with MMA (…yet), but the biggest fights in terms of revenue, buzz and online trends have been either influencer vs. influencer or influencer vs. boxer.
Granted, there does still seem to be some of that ‘want’ in the Heavyweight classes, with Tyson Fury and Oleksandr Usyk headlining a major card this month. But where is that ‘want’ elsewhere? The biggest fight of 2024 from a social media engagement and buzz standpoint was Mike Tyson vs Jake Paul.
I don’t care if you’re a boxing purist and want to argue with me, I’m stating a fact. Yes, Kholmatov vs. Ford, Teraji vs. Canizales and even Fury vs Usyk 1 were better as technical contests, but nothing drew the eyeballs from the mainstream public than the ‘circus’ that was Tyson vs Paul.
Big money is being thrown to these influencer types for a reason; Jake and Logan Paul, KSI et al have the ability to talk people into an arena or get them to buy a PPV because they’ve been selling content for their entire careers. Countries like UAE and Saudi Arabia want to get those eyeballs and they’re getting them, showing the world from a PR perspective that they’re more than capable of running these big-time shows.
McGregor and Paul, when they do finally get this fight signed, will likely go on a worldwide tour to promote what will be the biggest ‘influencer’ fight to that point. It no longer matters that neither man is a legitimate boxer with a genuine pro career, every single streaming platform and PPV provider on the planet will be clamoring to host the fight.
Why this is bad for boxing
One thing that I will give Jake Paul and MVP credit for is including some genuine quality on the undercard when it comes to his fight cards. Amanda Serrano has featured on many of his shows and Most Valuable Promotions do genuinely seem to want to help her career as a quality competitor in women’s boxing. But is that actually translating to more people watching the real deal, top-level boxers? I don’t have the statistics to back this up, but I’m guessing that it isn’t.
McGregor vs Paul is yet another marketing exercise where both men will be paid an obscene amount of money for an ‘exhibition.’ If Boxing was thriving as a sport then I would have no issue with this at all, let them both get their bag and entertain the people who want to watch it. The problem is that fights like this continue to dilute the sport, and continue to draw eyeballs away from the fights between the top-quality boxers fighting for the top titles in the world.
Conor McGregor as an MMA fighter is without doubt one of the greatest ever. You cannot become a Champ-Champ without being a stellar, a once in a lifetime athlete. But, he isn’t a boxer. Of course, boxing is a big part of mixed martial arts, but it’s also a completely different discipline when you can’t grapple or kick.
What worries me the most is that the ‘proper’ boxers, those who are grinding daily and trying to earn title fights in a sport that doesn’t have the panache it used to, will not see any benefit from these types of spectacle. The more that people see the ‘circus’ fights overtaking the sport, the more and more the mainstream will start to diminish the importance of boxing.
Muhammad Ali was able to talk people into the building, get them to buy a fight on PPV, but he was a phenom in the ring. He could outbox you before you stepped inside the ropes and when he was across the ring from you. McGregor and Paul can talk the talk, but when it comes to the top-tier boxing that people should be demanding to see? This ain’t it chief.
Paul and McGregor are clearly athletes, there’s no taking away from that. However, the sport of boxing has an identity crisis that is not being helped by fights that are booked to generate massive revenue rather than put the two best in the world in the ring to compete. But if we keep buying it, they’re going to keep selling it to us.
Related: Dana White breaks silence over Conor McGregor’s relationship with UFC after civil lawsuit
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Jake Skudder
(13 Articles Published)