Again last weekend millions of lucky internet users had the pleasure of watching someone punch Logan paul in the face. Maybe we should have declared a national holiday so that everyone can enjoy it.

The occasion this time was an “exhibition” between Paul and one of the greatest boxers of all time, now decidedly past his prime. Floyd Mayweather, who is also 44 years old and, technically, retired.

Nonetheless, the two part-time pugilists stepped into the ring to punch each other, doing enough little damage that the two could come out. Indeed, as an exhibition, no judge scored the fight, and no winner was declared.

Except of course, Mayweather’s and Paul’s bank accounts. Their bank accounts have won big.

As Tube filter reported this week, more than a dozen sponsors supported the event produced by a Cameo competitor called Fanmio and companies owned by Paul and Mayweather.

Boxers’ sponsors included Only fans, a fast fashion business, two online gambling sites, two fintech sites, three cryptocurrency companies, and other businesses selling cannabis products and dietary supplements. Together this list of sponsors reads like the Federal Trade Commissionlist of the top 10 most scrutinized internet industries, but I digress.

Online, where would you expect an event featuring a top influencer / huckster to be successful, it has created a mini media industry, generating some 326 million views out of 9,400. Youtube downloads, according to Tubular laboratories.

No wonder Paul himself was a particular beneficiary, with the most popular (Face to face with Floyd Mayweather) and fifth most popular (My last words to Floyd Mayweather) of those thousands of combat videos, according to Tubular.

But above all for the result, Showtime sports broadcast the event on pay-per-view for $ 50 a pop. Days after the fight, Mayweather said the PPV stream made $ 300 million.

Even before the fight, Mayweather boasted that he had already won $ 30 million in what he called a “legalized bank robbery.” As Mayweather went on to say, “… not bad for a guy who is retired.”

No indeed. Wonderful to see one of the sport’s greatest champions put aside a little nest egg for his old age, which for boxers often comes much sooner than they expect. Plus, Mayweather punched Logan Paul in the face.

But with that kind of money flowing around for “shows”, it might not be surprising to see influencers acting like professional boxers and choosing more and more to step into the ring. The money is big, the stakes are small and it’s a chance to generate new fans, sponsors and business deals.

that’s why Robert ellin, the founder and CEO of LiveXLive Media, told me this week that we should prepare for a lot more such events (including his).

As the money generated by the Paul-Mayweather event suggests, fans are increasingly engaging in live events that mix celebrities, sports and music – and not just with boxing, where there are sometimes downsides. potentials like death. But the fights are nothing like the level of intensity Mayweather has brought into his professional career.

“For our children, it’s fun, it’s Disney, this is Wrestlemania“Ellin said.” They don’t claim to be the next big star in boxing. It’s a show, and you’re going to see, I think it’s going to be the start.

Soon to come, Ellin said, other types of crossover events like the basketball league which features hip-hop stars and celebrity car races. And it could rekindle American interest in boxing, which has been discounted as mixed martial arts and even professional wrestling have garnered much more attention among young combat sports fans.

“It’s going to bring boxing back,” Ellin said. “Boxing was dying. It’s going to bring very young people back into boxing. ”

LiveXLive will produce and broadcast this Saturday Social Gloves: Platform Battle, featuring seven fights between influencers / mostly amateur boxers TIC Tac and YouTube.

Featured match pits Austin mcbroom from youtube The ACE family (19 million subscribers) vs. teen idol TikTok Bryce Room, with other matches featuring Danny duncan, DDG, Deji, FaZe Jarvis, Michel Le, Nate wyatt, Tanner fox, Tayler Holder, and Vinnie Hacker.

The event at Miami Hard Rock Stadium (where Paul fought Mayweather) will also present “a unique music festival” with headlining DJ Khaled, Lil Baby, and Migos, as well as live and on-demand pre-fight programming, behind-the-scenes content, interviews and red carpet appearances.

“It will be this opening trade, where we prove that we can create an audience for live events, we can sell merchandise for live events, sell alcohol and food in private boxes and prove as the consumer wants, ”Ellin said. .

The event is set to be the first in a series of boxing and music PPV Social Glove events in collaboration with Hard Rock Cafe, which broadcasts the event in its hotel complexes and restaurants, and co-creates derivative products.

And unsurprisingly, given the recent crypto craze, Social Gloves has signed a partnership to create licensed non-fungible tokens, or NFTs, linked to events, starting with family man McBroom’s digital trading cards. and the Teenage Idol Hall.

So, it’s gonna be One Thing.

Of course, even as influencers are turning to sports and competing away from what made them famous online, some things haven’t changed, like the choppy demeanor of a brother Paul.

At a media event in May, Mayweather got into a fight with Logan’s brother Paul Jacques when he grabbed Mayweather’s hat and also reportedly spoke about the foolishness of the recently deceased Mayweather’s mother of children. Small surprise, the GOAT is offended.

“There is a difference between respect and disrespect,” Mayweather said. “While untying my shoe, the mother of my children passed away last year, talking about her, touching my hat… It’s all about reciprocity. Treat people like you want to be treated.

It seems fair. So let’s treat the Pauls the way they want to be treated. Can we just arrange for people to punch them in the face every day? A la carte shooting would be huge. And that seems like the kind of show the internet really needs.