Boxing promoter thinks Jake Paul and KSI could ‘kill’ boxing

English boxing promoter Eddie Hearn has made the warning that YouTube-heavy bouts involving people such as Jake Paul and KSI could "kill" boxing.

For the last couple of years, content creators on the platform have been stepping into the realm of boxing to settle their scores.

And now, it is not just solely broadcast on YouTube - it's also expanded to other platforms.

KSI, Jake Paul, and Logan Paul had widely popularised pay-per-view events, with KSI launching the X Series alongside DAZN, while Jake delved into Showtime and Triller.

The events have been significant successes, with many fighters and pundits applauding the influencers for bringing a new lens to the sport – even if the quality of the fights was played down.

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But to Hearn, this can have negative consequences for the world of boxing in the future.

Despite being reasonably optimistic in his comments about the events since he still expressed concerns between "boxing" and "YouTube boxing."

"It puts the pressure on boxing to deliver because if not, this stuff will take over, and it will kill the sport long-term," Hearn told DAZN Boxing Show hosts.

He added, "We know the numbers it does very well. So, if broadcasters start looking at this and go, 'actually, maybe we'll just do YouTube boxing,' well, that would be a disaster for the sport."

Hearn further noted that he made a decent amount of money from involvement in the YouTube fights, but he wasn't entirely "comfortable" with it because of the quality of the matches.

It's still up in the air as to what heights the YouTube boxing events can reach and whether or not they will become the focus of outlets that have positioned themselves in the direction of traditional boxing programs.

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