The combat sports spectacle between Logan Paul and Dillon Danis is over, with Paul winning by Danis’s disqualification. The event, which took place in Manchester, U.K., was the culmination of a bitter feud between the social media entrepreneur and the jiu-jitsu ace turned combat sports bad guy.
However, all it did was cement that non-boxers competing in boxing is a bad idea, especially when packaging a lame-duck fight for pay-per-view.
The exhibition bout, scheduled for six three-minute rounds, was the co-main event of Misfits Boxing: The PRIME Card at AO Arena. Although Danis is not a boxer and his claim to fame is being Conor McGregor’s jiu-jitsu/coach, the slut-shaming online warfare he created around Paul’s fianceé, Nina Agdal, brought the fight to many people’s attention.
Don’t Bring A Grappler To A Boxing Match
The slander was Danis’s attempt at fight hype sans an actual boxing pedigree, and many even believed he wouldn’t show up as he has been touch and go with his still early mixed martial arts career (2-0). However, the fight happened, and what occurred was the most predictable thing ever: Paul fought like an amateur, and Danis proved he couldn’t box at all, opting for a submission move … in a boxing match.
Ultimately, Danis even failed at that.
In Round 5, Danis attempted a poor man’s rope-a-dope, placing himself in a corner, while Paul teed off hard punches. Danis’s retaliatory swings found nowhere to land, and in his frustration, he shot for a takedown that Paul stuffed. Later, Danis attempted yet another takedown but was stopped, and while on the ground, Paul threw a punch. When Danis got to his feet, he rushed a retreating Paul, whose security team flanked him and kept Danis off of him as they ran into the ring.
Chaos ensued, with the two crews pushing and pulling and Logan’s brother, Jake Paul, in the ring for no reason other than a momentary clout chase.
Leave Boxing Alone
The event was on pay-per-view, and for viewers underwhelmed after spending money on the lackluster Canelo vs. Charlo fight a few weeks earlier, this bout did nothing to rebuild confidence in the sport.
Jake Paul’s fight against former UFC title challenger Nate Diaz in August delivered the same bad blood sales point for viewers and saw Diaz use more bravado than fists in reality. There was a time when the Paul brothers were said to be the saviors of a sport that couldn’t gain traction with younger viewers.
Now they are rewriting the rules for that same audience that the business of boxing is not about skill or entertainment, just shenanigans, earning the labeling of misfits for a sport that deserves better than a somewhat combative spectacle.
