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The Guardian
27 minutes ago
- The Guardian
Jake Paul is boxing's newest power broker. Taylor v Serrano was his proof of concept
On Friday night, 11 July, Katie Taylor earned the clear-cut win that had eluded her in two previous victories by controversial decision over Amanda Serrano. Fighting before a sold-out crowd of 19,721 on the first all-women's boxing card ever at Madison Square Garden, Taylor outboxed her longtime rival and solidified her status as one of the greatest women boxers of all time. The evening was a celebration of women's boxing and also marked a significant step forward for Most Valuable Promotions (Jake Paul's promotional company), which orchestrated, produced and marketed the event. Paul is a highly visible social media influencer with 28.4m followers on Instagram and 20.9m subscribers to his YouTube channel. He and Nakisa Bidarian (who was once the UFC's chief strategy and chief financial officer) met in 2019 when Bidarian began planning the 2020 exhibition between Mike Tyson and Roy Jones for Triller. Paul had only one fight on his resume at the time – a victory over social media personality Ali Eson Gib. But Bidarian signed him for the primary support bout beneath Tyson-Jones, and Jake knocked out former NBA basketball player Nate Robinson in the second round. The following year, he and Bidarian founded MVP. Bidarian has a reputation for being hard-working, abrasive and smart. One person who has worked with him says, 'Nakisa always thinks he's the smartest person in the room, and very often that's true. But he has the personality of a porcupine and can be difficult to deal with.' That said; another person who has worked with Bidarian opines, 'Nakisa is a hard negotiator but he's always professional. He thinks creatively outside the box. And once he makes a deal, he lives up to it. He doesn't look at a contract as the starting point for a new round of negotiations, which distinguishes him from a lot of people in boxing.' MVP calls itself a managerial company. But like Al Haymon's Premier Boxing Champions (another 'managerial' company), it functions as a promoter. In recent years, MVP has promoted numerous small fight cards on DAZN. But its greatest success has come with Jake Paul's fights. Now it's trying to build on Paul's social media presence and ring exploits to establish a promotional company that isn't reliant on Jake fighting to turn a profit. Paul's ring career has blurred the line between social media influencers and traditional boxers. After knocking out Gib and Robinson, he won four more fights against a string of aging former MMA combatants before losing a decision to Tommy Fury. That was followed by five more wins, the most notable of which was an eight-round decision over 58-year-old Mike Tyson last November. Two weeks ago, he decisioned an unmotivated, out-of-shape, long-past-his-prime Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. Paul has the ring skills of a club fighter. That merits respect. But now that the novelty of his fighting has worn off, he needs a dance partner to attract a large audience willing to pay big money to watch him fight. Tyson-Paul fit that profile to perfection. The fight was marred by a lack of serious PED testing and questionable medical-clearance standards for Tyson. But it drew 72,300 fans to AT&T Stadium in Texas. The live gate surpassed $18m, making it the largest on-site gate ever in the United States for a fight card held outside of Las Vegas. It was also the first live professional sports event ever on Netflix and the most-streamed sports event of all time. More than 60m households around the world watched it. That made Taylor-Serrano II (which was on the undercard of Tyson-Paul) the most-watched women's sporting event in US history. Building on that success, Netflix purchased rights to stream Taylor-Serrano III as well as the upcoming 13 September Saudi-backed encounter between Canelo Álvarez and Terence Crawford. Paul has mastered the art of making money through social media. 'We've been fortunate to have Jake as the head of our spear,' Bidarian acknowledges. 'Social media is the most important currency in the world today because the vast majority of Gen Z and younger get their news, get their content, get their updates from social media.' But once Paul stops boxing, MVP's biggest money-making vehicle will be gone. Jake simply showing up for someone else's fight that he's promoting won't create much wealth. 'They're trying to develop other stars to fill the void,' says a manager who has done business with MVP. 'But most of their young fighters aren't very good. Other than Amanda Serrano, they haven't signed a fighter who can generate big money. And Amanda has to be paired with someone like Katie Taylor to sell.' Bidarian is believed to be trying to raise capital from outside sources to expand MVP. Meanwhile, the company is working to establish a reputation as the place for elite women boxers to be and build what Bidarian calls 'a cohesive unfragmented women's boxing program'. In recent months, it has announced a series of high-profile signings and hopes to launch an all-women's boxing series. 'Women's boxing might not become as popular as men's boxing,' Bidarian acknowledges. 'But it can carry its own weight.' Meanwhile, there's a huge plus to what MVP is doing. It's generating the cash through live gate receipts, pay-per-view buys, license fees, sponsorships and other income streams to cover what Paul and the company are paid. No big loser is keeping MVP afloat, which is an all-too-common formula in the boxing business today. That brings us to Taylor-Serrano III. Most boxing trilogies result from the first two fights between the combatants being split. Here the trilogy came about because, even though Taylor emerged victorious on the judges' scorecards in Taylor-Serrano I and II, they were exceptionally good fights. And many knowledgeable observers thought that Serrano deserved the decision in one or both of them. Taylor-Serrano I was a watershed moment for women's boxing. Promoted by Eddie Hearn, it was contested at Madison Square Garden on 30 April 2022, before a sellout crowd of 19,187 and engendered a live gate of $1,450,180. The atmosphere was electric. The action was heated. Taylor won a 97-93, 96-93, 94-96 verdict. Taylor-Serrano II (on the undercard of Tyson-Paul) was just as enthralling. Once again, Taylor prevailed; this time by a slender 95-94, 95-94, 95-94 margin. On both occasions, Serrano was remarkably gracious in defeat and accepted her loss without public complaint. But her resentment showed at the 9 April kick-off press conference for her third encounter with Taylor. Not one to shy away from hype, host Ariel Helwani began the press conference by calling it 'one of the most important press conferences in combat sports history'. Eventually the fighters had their say. Serrano called Taylor a great champion and said she respected her in and out of the ring. Katie responded, 'There's no animosity on my side. I'm just here to fight.' But things got testy when Serrano said that she'd wanted 12 three-minute rounds for their upcoming fight rather than the 10 two-minute rounds that are traditional for women's championship bouts and claimed that Taylor had reneged on a promise to accept that format. Taylor countered that she'd declined the request because the WBC wouldn't sanction the fight on those terms and added, 'The challenger shouldn't be dictating the terms of the fight. Amanda's not in a position to dictate and Amanda's not in a position to change the format of women's boxing.' That pushed Serrano's buttons and she turned to the judging of the first two fights, declaring, 'The world has eyes. They saw what they saw. It sucks that three judges see something completely different. But millions of people saw it another way.' 'I'm not interested in what Amanda says about the fight,' Taylor countered. 'I'm only interested in what the judges say about the fight. I am 2-and-0 here. I was the deserved winner. Here we are again, having a silly conversation because you're trying to create a narrative that you were robbed in that fight. That's not OK, Amanda.' 'A lot of times I let those comments go,' Taylor said afterward. 'But enough is enough of all the silly comments and the complaints over the decision and stuff. I'm 2-and-0 against her. She actually feels like she won that fight, which is not correct. She wants to walk to the ring second. She wants to be announced second. It's absolutely ridiculous. After I beat her a third time, I don't want any more complaints.' Fight week offered the usual mix of media workouts, photo ops and other promotional activities. Serrano gave the impression of enjoying it. Taylor is on the shy side and would rather train and fight than talk. MVP announced that the event would 'break the official Guinness World Records title for the most world championship belts ever contested on a single fight card, male or female, with 17 world titles on the line across five bouts'. But while fighters and networks care about the belts, most fight fans don't. Championships were devalued in boxing long ago. And that's particularly true of women's boxing. Meanwhile, Ariel Helwani upped the ante at the final pre-fight press conference, calling the event 'the greatest fight card of all time'. Some of the undercard bouts that preceded Taylor-Serrano III were competitive and spirited. Others weren't. Of particular note, Shadasia Green won a 96-93, 95-94, 93-96 split-decision over Savannah Marshall in an action fight that saw both women dig deep and could have gone either way on the judges' scorecards. Finally it was time for the main event. Taylor-Serrano III was for all four of Taylor's 140lb belts. But as a concession to Serrano, there was a 136lb contract weight. The high stakes and enthusiastic crowd (which leaned toward Serrano) gave the bout high drama. But the action was far more muted than in their first two encounters. This time around, Taylor put on a defensive boxing clinic. The first three rounds were tactically fought with both women probing for openings and finding little to exploit. A judge could have scored them either way. Taylor's game plan was clear. She had no intention of engaging in firefight exchanges. She would move, box and pick up points when and where she could. She fought a smart, measured, disciplined fight with side-to-side movement that exposed Serrano's limitations as a boxer. And Amanda had no Plan B to break through Katie's defensive shield. Serrano clearly won round six. But other than that, her stalking was largely ineffective aggression. Two of the judges scored the fight 97-93 for Taylor, which was on the mark. The third tally (95-95) was bad judging. 'The whole game plan,' Taylor said afterward, 'was to not let her feet set. I knew I was capable of a performance like that in the other two fights as well. But the two fights previously ended up as complete wars, and I came out of the ring battered and bruised and I'm thinking, 'Why am I just standing there, fighting?'' Putting that comment in perspective; Serrano landed 173 punches to Taylor's 147 in their first encounter. In Taylor-Serrano II, those numbers increased to 324 to 217 in Amanda's favor. This time around, each fighter landed a meager 70 punches. Both women were gracious in the aftermath of the fight. 'I'm so grateful for Amanda Serrano,' Taylor said. 'What an amazing champion. And we created history together three times. My name will be embedded with hers forever. I'm very very happy about that.' Serrano responded in kind, saying, 'Thank you Katie Taylor for an incredible three fights and 30 rounds. It has truly been an honor to face you.' As for the future; Taylor's voice is starting to sound softer and a bit less crisp and clear than it once did. Serrano is showing the wear and tear of 52 professional fights. Each woman has earned life-changing money. Their health shouldn't be trifled with. It would be nice if they both retired now. Thomas Hauser's email address is thomashauserwriter@ His next book – The Most Honest Sport: Two More Years Inside Boxing – will be published this month and is available for preorder. In 2019, Hauser was selected for boxing's highest honor - induction into the International Boxing Hall of Fame.
The Independent
42 minutes ago
- The Independent
Cruz hits 513-foot homer, joins Raleigh, Caminero and Buxton in Home Run Derby semifinals
Pittsburgh 's Oneil Cruz hit a 513-foot drive over Truist Park's right-center field seats while advancing to the second round of the All-Star Home Run Derby along with Seattle 's Cal Raleigh, Tampa Bay 's Junior Caminero and Minnesota's Byron Buxton on Monday night. Atlanta's Matt Olson, Washington's James Wood, the New York Yankees' Jazz Chisholm Jr., and the Athletics' Brent Rooker were eliminated. Cruz and Caminero each hit 21 long balls and Buxton had 20 in the opening round of the annual power show. Raleigh and Rooker had 17 apiece, but Raleigh advanced on the tiebreaker of their longest homer, 470.61 feet to 470.53. Cruz faced Raleigh in the semifinals, while Caminero took on Buxton. The longest derby homer since Statcast started tracking in 2016 was 520 feet by Juan Soto in the mile-high air of Denver's Coors Field in 2021. Last year, the longest drive at Arlington, Texas, was 473 feet by Atlanta's Marcell Ozuna. Cruz's long drive was the hardest-hit at 118 mph. Raleigh, who leads the major leagues with 38 homers, was pitched to by his father, Todd, former coach of Tennessee and Western Carolina. His younger brother Todd Raleigh Jr. did the catching. Just the second Derby switch-hitter after Baltimore's Adley Rutschman in 2023, Raleigh hit eight left-handed, took a timeout, then hit seven right-handed. Going back to lefty, then hit two more in the bonus round. Wood hit 16 homers, including a 486-foot shot and one that landed on the roof of the Chop House behind the right-field wall. Olson, disappointing his hometown fans, finished with 15 and was eliminated in the first round for the second time. Chisholm hit just three homers. ___
Daily Mail
44 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
Livvy Dunne and Paul Skenes touch down in Atlanta for MLB All-Star Game after flying in on luxury private jet
Social media sensation, Sports Illustrated swimsuit model, and former college gymnast Livvy Dunne is back in the Deep South for one of the biggest American sports events of the year. Dunne and her boyfriend, Pittsburgh Pirates pitching ace Paul Skenes, are in Atlanta for the 2025 MLB All-Star Game - set to take place on Tuesday night. She shared a pair of snaps to her Instagram Story of herself and her man on a private jet bound for the ATL. The couple rode in style and in comfort - with the cabin of the aircraft adorned with slick wood accents and cushioned leather chairs. Now they're both in Georgia as Skenes has been named one of the best baseball players at this point in the season. Not only that, but Skenes is believed to be the starter for the National League for Tuesday's showpiece. The pair boarded a private jet bound for the MLB All-Star Game in Atlanta on Tuesday Skenes was given that same honor last year, when he was a rookie for the Pirates. As for Dunne, she's had some trouble finding an apartment in New York City after her recent bid for a unit has been rejected. 'So a few months ago, I decided I was going to make my first Real Estate purchase, which is so exciting and I was gonna get an apartment in New York City ,' Dunne, who is said to be worth a staggering $6million, explained in the video. 'But the gag was... it was Babe Ruth's apartment.' The baseball legend's lavish former home is priced just under $1.6million - and Dunne says she had agreed to pay for it in cash. However, just as she appeared to have landed a historic apartment, Dunne and boyfriend Paul Skenes were dealt a major blow. 'The week that I'm supposed to get my keys to my brand new apartment, I get a call... the co-op board denied me,' she recalled. 'So pretty much the people in the building voted to not have me live there. Which is fine. 'Honestly, it wasn't financial. For all I know, they could've been Alabama fans and I went to LSU. Like, I have no clue. Dunne, the influencer and swimsuit model, recently got rejected for a lavish NYC apartment 'Maybe they didn't want a public figure living there, but I was literally supposed to get the keys, and that week they denied me. 'It was just iconic, it was so cool that it was Babe Ruth's apartment. But long story short, don't try to live in a co-op. You might get denied and you won't get Babe Ruth's apartment.' Dunne, who retired from gymnastics after leaving LSU earlier this year, has built up a sizeable net worth at the age of just 22 due to her social-media fame, brand partnerships and lucrative Name, Image and Likeness deals.
