Boxing was the original attention economy – Paul v Joshua is old logic in a louder digital age
An undersized loudmouth disruptor arrives in Miami for a no-hope fight with one of history’s most destructive heavyweights, exploiting every available lever of new media to amplify his delusions of grandeur to mass audiences,There are mounting concerns for his mental and physical wellbeing, with doctors, commentators and former fighters openly questioning his soundness of mind and wondering whether he might end up in hospital – or worse,The oddsmakers have made him an 8-1 longshot, a price that feels almost charitable given the epic scale of the mismatch,The buildup revolves less around the favorite than around the smaller man’s mouth: his noise, his presence, and the creeping suspicion that spectacle may finally have outrun sense,Cassius Clay wound up shocking the world back in 1964 when he made Sonny Liston quit on his stool after six rounds at the Miami Beach Convention Center.
But it’s right here, on the eve of Friday night’s scheduled eight-round showdown between Jake Paul and Anthony Joshua at the nearby Kaseya Center, where those curious rhymes with the past come to a screeching halt,It’s Christmastime on the neon edge of south-east Florida and everything old is new again,Paul, the 28-year-old American who rose to global fame as a YouTuber, has managed to develop into a competent club-level boxer since pivoting to the sport and turning professional in 2020, winning 12 of 13 bouts against a fleet of mostly faded mixed martial arts fighters, fellow YouTubers, a retired basketball star and a 58-year-old Mike Tyson – the last of which peaked at 65m live concurrent streams and drew an estimated 108 million average live viewers worldwide,Joshua, 36, is an Olympic gold medallist and two-time unified heavyweight champion with an 89% knockout percentage who launched the first of his title reigns when Paul was still chewing scenery on the Disney Channel,He enters Friday’s main event looking to re-establish himself after a fifth-round knockout loss to Daniel Dubois in September 2024, and amid continuing discussions about a potential long-awaited bout with his fellow former champion Tyson Fury next year.
The contest has raised safety concerns because of the disparity in size, experience and pedigree,Paul weighed just under 200lb in his most recent bout, while Joshua, who stands five inches taller, has competed comfortably above 250lb,Despite criticism from regulators and fighters – there are questions over whether Vegas would have sanctioned it, much less the British Boxing Board of Control – the bout has been rubber-stamped and heavily backed as a global streaming event, with a nine-figure investment from Netflix,Paul and Joshua will each reportedly clear a minimum of $50m (£37,3m) for their efforts.
“People don’t like the fact that I’m fighting Jake.Whether that concerns me or not is another question,” Joshua said during Wednesday night’s final press conference, at a theater around the corner from where Ali brought Liston to heel all those years ago.“But if we look at the people that don’t want me to be here, but they want me to put an end to Jake Paul’s show, I understand it and that’s why I have to carry boxing on my back with this fight.”Fistic purists may lament the state of things, but there is no sport better equipped to understand what is happening here.Long before anyone talked about algorithms or engagement metrics, boxing was the original attention economy, its value dictated not by merit or structure but by visibility.
There were no league structures, no fixed schedules, no guaranteed paydays.A fight existed only if enough people cared to show up, and the fighters who mattered were the ones who could command a crowd.The earliest stars of the prize ring were not merely champions but attractions.John L Sullivan, Jack Johnson and Jack Dempsey became global celebrities in an age when the concept of celebrity itself was still in utero, their names splashed across front pages and their movements followed by crowds eager to watch them train.Promoters such as Tex Rickard and Doc Kearns refined the model, engineering spectacle through controversy, narrative and scale.
Skill mattered, but drawing power mattered more.Fighters who moved the needle advanced; those who did not were left behind.Boxing did not borrow this logic from modern media.It helped create it, converting views directly into revenue long before the term existed.Today’s iteration is simply an older logic resurfacing in a louder age.
That logic has been on full display throughout a fight week like none other, the first with a designated content house where a platoon of creators have been cooking since Monday,What was intended as a routine promotional curtain-raiser on Wednesday instead became another reminder of how combustible the buildup has become,Joshua’s blunt framing of boxing as an occupation that carries the risk of fatal consequences drew sharp reaction across the sport, prompting withering criticism from Fury even as he remains a potential future opponent,Paul has responded to sceptics in his usual confrontational register,Asked about fighters and critics who argue his bouts are not “real” – that a gentlemen’s agreement might be in play – he dismissed the claim as legally actionable slander, framing the backlash as both a compliment and proof that his presence unsettles the sport.
He insisted there were no hit-and-giggle handshakes, no soft landings, and no illusions about what awaits in the ring, portraying Friday’s fight as a genuine confrontation rather than a contrivance.He defended his presence by claiming “no one’s done more for the sport of boxing in the past decade than myself”.He may be right.The consensus among boxing’s chattering class is that it will go as long as Joshua lets it – a couple of rounds if Paul fights merely to survive, a couple of minutes if he fights to win – but it must be noted that a spectacular destruction may only burnish Paul’s brand.He’s spent the week rattling off his many jobs: a venture capitalist, a CEO, a boxer, an entrepreneur.
But at heart he remains a YouTuber, that unique subset of celebrity whose defining trait is not being afraid to embarrass themselves on camera in pursuit of that one viral moment,The Oprah shot,There’s little doubt that Christmas will come early for the millions tuning in to watch Paul’s comeuppance, a proof of concept that boxing’s new normal is the same as it ever was,
MPs to question Vodafone on ‘unjust’ treatment of store franchise owners
Vodafone executives will next month meet MPs scrutinising the company’s treatment of scores of business owners running its stores.The move follows claims reported by the Guardian last week of suicide and attempted suicide by people who had agreed deals to run outlets for the £18bn telecoms company. The report led to suggestions that the government might consider new laws to correct the power imbalance in franchise agreements.A group of 62 former Vodafone franchisees brought a high court claim in 2024, alleging the company “unjustly enriched” itself in 2020 by slashing sales commissions.The court papers alleged that Vodafone acted in “bad faith” by unilaterally cutting fees to its franchisees; imposed fines of thousands of pounds for seemingly minor administrative errors; and then cajoled them into taking out loans and government grants to keep their businesses afloat
BP opts for culture shock with new CEO appointment, but the timing is odd
Here we go again. Just when you thought BP was trying to generate less drama, the new chair has decided a new chief executive is needed. Say goodbye to Murray Auchincloss, who junked the green-ish transition strategy of his predecessor as recently as February. Meg O’Neill, the American boss of the Australian group Woodside Energy, becomes BP’s first outside hire as chief executive.At face value, a new appointment should not be an outright surprise
TikTok signs Trump-backed deal to sell US entity to American investors
TikTok has signed a deal to sell its US business to three American investors – Oracle, Silver Lake and MGX – ensuring the popular social video platform can continue operating in the United States.The deal is expected to close on 22 January, according to an internal memo seen by he Associated Press and Reuters. The TikTok chief executive officer, Shou Zi Chew, said in the memo that ByteDance and TikTok have signed binding agreements with the three investors.The new TikTok US joint venture will be 50% held by a consortium of new investors, including Oracle, Silver Lake and Abu Dhabi-based MGX with 15% each. Another 30
Facebook tests charging users to share links in potential blow for news outlets
Facebook is testing a system that charges users for sharing web links, in a move that could prove to be a further blow to news outlets and other publishers.Meta, the social media platform’s owner, said it is carrying out a “limited test” in which those without a paid Meta Verified subscription, costing at least £9.99 a month, can only post two external links a month.The test appears to involve a subset of Facebook pages and user profiles on Professional Mode, which includes features used by content creators to monetise their posts.News organisations are not included in the test
Australia v England: Ashes third Test, day three – live
27th over: Australia 104-2 (Head 58, Khawaja 22) Carse continues and is back to digging the ball in short too often. A curious tactic when England need wickets to stay in the game – and series. Head picks up a single on the offside as Joe Root spins the arms.As this innings begins to show all the signs of drifting away from England, Edward poses an interesting question from Germany: “5C here in Mannheim and missing the Australian heat. Quick question: is Australia the worst test team in reviewing decisions both in terms of success rate and when deciding to review?”Without having the stats around that to hand, the eye test (and fading memory) certainly suggests there is plenty of room for improvement
Rory McIlroy named BBC Sports Personality of the Year 2025 – as it happened
Time to sign off, I’ll leave you with Sean Ingle’s report. Thanks for joining me.Sports Personality of the Year: Rory McIlroyRunners-up: Ellie Kildunne, Lando NorrisTeam of the Year: Europe’s Ryder Cup teamCoach of the Year: Sarina WiegmanYoung Sports Personality: Michelle AgyemangWorld Sport Star: Armand DuplantisLifetime Achievement Award: Thierry HenryHelen Rollason Award: Sergio Aguiar and David StancombeIf you’re new here, you can get the best of our coverage delivered to your inbox every Sunday. Sign up below:A reminder of Rory McIlroy’s golden year:And with that, the ticker tape flies and Balding, Logan and Scott bid us farewell. That was a very watchable ceremony with plenty of insights – it was also emotional, even fraught, at times
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