The Lightweight Champion, Teofimo Lopez hates the idea of Youtubers boxing, he thinks it diminishes the sport. A lot of old and current boxers gave their blood, sweat and tears just to gain the respect of people and for someone who is just famous outside of boxing gain more attention than actual boxers.
Stop this YouTuber Boxing. Stop diminishing the sport that we’ve worked so hard for! Shit not sweet.
— Teofimo Lopez (@TeofimoLopez) February 1, 2021
It certainly does not sit well with Lopez as they have been boxing their entire life, and for someone to gain more money and attention who just box recently makes them look foolish. Although it is not the Youtuber’s fault for staying trendy and doing what they want, it is just not a good look for upcoming boxers who do the sport to support their family earn less.
YouTube boxing was initially started by KSI who boxed Weller and it certainly trending and he called out the Paul brothers. The KSI vs Paul became one of the biggest fights of that year and it was just an amateur fight. That sparked attention from promoter Eddie Hearn and then made it PPV Pro Boxing fight, which was successful in their own rights.
Now Jake Paul gained attention as well when he knocked out Nate Robinson as the co-main event for the Tyson-Jones fight card. Mike Tyson even gave props to Paul due to his massive following in social media that also helped with PPV sales.
Logan Paul who is also a Youtuber was also scheduled to face Floyd Mayweather for an exhibition match but was delayed. His brother, Jake Paul is set to face retired MMA fighter Ben Askren 17 April.
Teofimo Lopez has been in the sport long enough and has proven to be one of the best boxers in the world right now by beating Lomachenko.
What is wrong with the sport is, there are a lot of skilled boxers that do this for a living but yet not as successful as when YouTubers box. This is Lopez’s side of the argument. One could also argue that thanks to the YouTubers the sport of boxing attracts a lot of casual fans.
