After the fight: A night watching YouTubers vs. TikTokers

The Social Gloves YouTubers vs. TikTokers event took social media boxing to the next level. It surprised and exceeded expectations on several levels. 

Most of my Saturday nights are spent in the same fashion—camped out in front of my T.V., analyzing and recapping boxing action. Saturday, June 12, was no different. The ESPN main event between Shakur Stevenson and Jeremiah Nakathila shined on my wall, but I also decided to give the Social Gloves YouTubers vs. TikTokers event a look. I was surprised by what that show had to offer.

I’m not in the “know,” or whatever cool kids today call it, in terms of social media. I have the basic accounts, but social media personalities aren’t on my radar. Before the YouTubers vs. TikTokers fight card, I had never heard of Austin McBroom, Bryce Hall, and most other influencers on the card.

The names AnEsonGib and Deji popped out at me because I saw them box in the past. I wasn’t impressed with their boxing skills, but they surprised me during interviews for an article I was working on. I expected arrogant, impolite, trash talkers, but they were the opposite.

AnEsonGib and Deji proved to be kind people that really enjoyed boxing for personal reasons. Yes, their skills are lacking, but they spoke intelligently about their boxing interest and displayed a genuine desire to improve in the ring.

Their sincerity made me tune in to the YouTubers vs. TikTokers boxing matches, which streamed on my computer monitor. Stevenson vs. Nakathila had my focus, but Social Gloves kept me turning my head to the monitor to see what would happen next.

The streaming quality of the event was impressive. The picture was clear, and the broadcast was well organized. Social Gloves mimicked Triller by mixing in big-name musical acts with boxing. Performers like Trippie Redd and DJ Khaled didn’t excite me or many of the fans in attendance. Khaled had an embarrassing moment where his music cut off, and he tried to get the crowd to interact, but they weren’t having it.

That provided some entertainment in itself.

All of the boxing matches were amateur rules featuring five two-minute rounds. That was necessary. These social media stars are nowhere near professionals, and I’m happy they didn’t try to act like it. They could have gotten seriously hurt. This was a wise safeguard.

Social Gloves YouTubers vs. TikTokers proved that people are interested in their favorite social media stars boxing

Ryan Johnston and Cale Saurage were the first bout. I knew neither of them, but Saurage’s arrogant dancing to the ring and his raunchy mullet made me dislike him immediately. He exuded a level of “bro” culture that was hard to stomach, but I’ll give him credit because he came to fight.

Johnston broke him down over five rounds to force the stoppage. The boxing wasn’t great, but the effort made it an entertaining fight to watch.

I ignored most of the musical interludes, but they helped break up much of the monotony of most boxing broadcasts. The Triller event between Mike Tyson and Roy Jones Jr. was paced in the same way a drew praise for its format. Social Gloves followed their playbook, and it worked, except for Dj Khaled. I’m sure he would like to redo his performance.

A strange thing happened. As YouTubers and TikTokers continued to fight throughout the night, the matchups continued to excite, and all the participants looked like they did their best to prep for the event. I’m sure Ben Azelart tried too, but there needs to be a certain level of athleticism to give a person a shot at boxing. Azelart didn’t have it. But several of the other social media stars did.

While his competition wasn’t the best, FaZe Jarvis’s knockout of Michael Le reverberated across the internet. It was the number one trending topic on Twitter, and YouTubers vs. TikTokers was the number on search on Google Trends. It stayed that way for the remainder of Saturday night.

Most boxing writers didn’t pay much attention to it, but the followers and subscribers of these influencers did. That’s what influencers do best—get attention.

YouTubers vs. TikTokers didn’t sell out the Hard Rock Stadium, but they did keep the social media and digital spotlight on themselves all night. That might mean a lot more than ticket sales, especially if it translated to pay-per-view buys.

As for professional boxing, Stevenson showed skill but failed to entertain against Nakathila. That’s not entirely his fault. It takes two to tango in the ring. The YouTubers and TikTokers didn’t show all that much skill, but they certainly entertained. It was an odd inverse between the two fight cards but demonstrates that maybe there is a place for influencers in boxing.

It’s highly unlikely that any famous social media personality will ever reach the highest ranks in boxing, but their presence garners attention. They seem to like boxing and get a thrill from the experience, so why not put one or two on a major card? DAZN, Triller, and Showtime have already featured influencers in events.

Influencers haven’t paid the same boxing dues as other fighters, but they have put in lots of work to build a following. They can host their own events, or the world of boxing could bring in select influencers with a decent amount of talent to help bridge their brand and the sport to Generation Z. It’s not the conventional approach to marketing, but social media is constantly evolving, and boxing should follow suit. In some ways, it already is.