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The Most-Important Celebrity and Influencer Boxing Matches of All Time
Jake Paul returns to the ring this weekend when he faces former world champion Julio César Chávez Jr live on DAZN PPV.
Although Paul will very much reiterate that he is a serious professional boxer, he entered the sport as social media influencer fighting another internet celebrity.
Paul has invested plenty of his own money, effort, and time into the sport, but the wave of celebrity fighters he has helped crash onto the shores of boxing is not the only time we have seen the famous wrap up their hands and throw their fists.
Here are some of the highest profile – and most important – celebrity boxing matches in the history of the sport.
Celebrity Boxing
Long before Misfits, the B-list and C-list of celebrity has been raided for potential boxers to chuck in front of the glitz and glamour of television.
In 2002 FOX Sports produced Celebrity Boxing, a short-lived series that did what it said on the tin. Wearing headgear, celebrities would fight three three-minute rounds.
Based in America, some of the fighters involved could claim some level of prestige, such as rapper Vanilla Ice and NBA star Manute Bol, but quite a few ‘celebrities’ owed their fame to controversial sex scandals or high-profile criminal incidents.
The most notable fight of the first show was Vanilla Ice taking on actor Todd Bridges of Diff’rent Strokes fame, the ‘Ice, Ice, Baby’ singer knocked down twice in a heavy loss. With over 15m viewers for the one-off special, FOX were encouraged to repeat the trick with another show in the same year.
Bol faced ex-NFL defensive tackle William Perry in a cross-sports meeting during the second show, but FOX were not content to simply throw famous people into the ring together, as Celebrity Boxing also dabbled in mixed-gender boxing.
Joey Buttafuoco, his fame earned for an affair with a teenager dubbed the ‘Long Island Lolita’, was set to take on John Wayne Bobbitt. After Bobbitt pulled out due to legal troubles, female professional wrestler Chyna stepped in for the headlining bout.
Buttafuoco was in charge of the fight, dishing out a black eye to his opponent, but the final scorecards were very tight. One judge had it even, although the remaining scorers gave Buttafuoco a split decision with 29-27 and 29-28 scores.
No reason was publicly given for the second event being the last edition of the show, but despite the initial success, FOX has not revisited the notion of famous people fighting each other.
The Fight
Celebrity boxing, the concept, not the TV show, was not just gaining traction in the USA. Across the pond, British celebrities were donning the gloves in order to raise money for charity.
Whilst FOX Sports were pitting C-listers against each other for their personal gain, comedians Bob Mortimer and Les Dennis took part in a charity bout for Sport Relief in 2002.
Six million watched on as Middlesbrough maestro Mortimer took a tight decision victory, the event paving the way for further events on the BBC.
Just like its American cousin, the BBC’s celebrity fighting show would only exist for two iterations. Five-and-a-half million viewers tuned in to watch a grudge match between Ricky Gervais and Grant Bovey, transmitted shortly after Christmas 2002.
But even before the fight had been broadcast, the match pre-recorded, the BBC found themselves under immense pressure from the British Boxing Board of Control (BBBofC).
Promoter Frank Warren was very vocal in his criticism of the BBC’s showing stating at the time: "It's a very dangerous sport and it needs to be regulated properly. You can't just go to the gym for six weeks and think you are a boxer. It takes a long time and a lot of dedication. The brain doesn't distinguish whether it's being hit by a professional or an amateur. If, heaven forbid, something should go wrong, people won't be saying, 'Let's ban The Office or whatever Grant Bovey does', they'll be calling for a ban on boxing."
Gervais’ win over Bovey would be shown, but plans for a third show featuring BBC political correspondent John Pienaar and Spandau Ballet lead singer Tony Hadley were shelved in early 2003.
But despite the controversy and attempts by the BBBofC to put a stop to the BBC glamourising unskilled amateur fights, celebrity boxing would return to the BBC in 2004, solely under the Sport Relief banner.
Presenters Ben Fogle and Sid Owen did battle in 2004, the former winning. The BBC would stage fights on Sport Relief every two years, with Jack Osbourne, son of heavy metal singer Ozzy Osbourne, defeating S Club member Bradley McIntosh in 2006.
Presenter Ben Shephard was victorious over singer Lemar in 2008, the final bout before a decade-long hiatus of charity boxing on the BBC.
Following the rise of influencers fighting each other in the late 2010s, the BBC brought back celebrity boxing to Sport Relief in 2018.
Former England international Wayne Bridge took on Made in Chelsea reality star Spencer Matthews in the most notable bout. Ex-Chelsea defender Bridge rattled his opponent en route to a unanimous decision win, Matthews twice given a standing count.
KSI vs Joe Weller
By the mid 2010s, a new class of celebrity had firmly been established – the influencer. Rather than catapulted to fame by television, music, radio, or film, social media stars quickly commanded huge audiences with their online posts.
Joe Weller, a British YouTuber, had introduced his circle of influencers to boxing via amateur fights he filmed and uploaded onto his own channel. Olajide Olatunji, better known as KSI, was keen to get involved, and threw his hat into the ring to face Weller.
Rather than scrapping in a small ring indoors, the followings commanded by either influencer allowed them to secure the services of the Copper Box Arena for an amateur boxing match.
KSI would win by a third-round technical knockout, capping off an event that proved a success. Looking back, the fight marked the beginning of influencer boxing, with KSI a key driver behind Misfits.
KSI vs Logan Paul II
(Getty Images)
If KSI’s fight with Joe Weller lit the spark for influencer boxing, then the British YouTuber’s second fight with Logan Paul truly saw the trend catch alight.
The pair had fought in an amateur, white-collar affair in August 2018, shown live on DAZN. A tight battle was scored as a majority draw, leading to a rematch.
However, the stakes were increased, with both fighters turning professional ahead of their reunion in November 2019, at the Staples Center in Los Angeles.
Eddie Hearn’s involvement in promoting the fight further legitimised the concept of influencers fighting each other inside the ring.
This time, KSI would defeat Logan Paul, ushering in a new era of influencer boxing.
Floyd Mayweather Jr vs Conor McGregor
With both sports firmly under the banner of combat, Fighters have tried their hands at both MMA and boxing. However, very few have found major success in their second sport, especially if they transitioned late on in their professional careers. Ethan Miller/Getty Images
As such, MMA fighters contesting bouts with boxers are often viewed as exhibition matches, such as Connor McGregor’s fight with Floyd Mayweather Jr.
Neither man was particularly modest about their achievements in their respective disciplines, Mayweather was an 11-time and five-division world champion as a boxer, McGregor held the UFC featherweight and lightweight titles.
Rather than being purely an exhibition match, as Mayweather would organise when he faced Logan Paul a few years down the line, this was a professional boxing bout sanctioned by the Nevada State Athletic Commission.
As such, when Mayweather stopped McGregor in the 10th round, it saw ‘Money’ move to a final boxing record of 50-0. Aside from legitimising cross-code fights as professional events, Mayweather-McGregor also proved how lucrative celebrity boxing could really be.
The PPV sales of the event raked in over $600m, with 4.3m domestic buys in the US alone. Only Mayweather’s fight with Manny Pacquiao has sold more in the history of PPVs.
Mayweather reportedly took home over $300m, whilst McGregor earned around $100m for his troubles.
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