Two turds: Jake Paul and Andrew Tate don’t deserve any credit for this weekend, and here’s why.

This weekend, two turds were wiped up. YouTuber Jake Paul was knocked out, reportedly suffering a broken jaw against Anthony Joshua, and the following day, ‘king of the incels’, Andrew Tate was humbled and beaten up by a reality TV star with a man bun.

Many people may feel that both men deserve credit for stepping into the ring. Tate has been shown on social media stating that it’s “better to have tried and failed than to have never tried at all”. Jake Paul will inevitably receive credit and respect for stepping into a fight with so many disadvantages (weight, ability, experience).

However…

Jake Paul fought a man nobody thought he would beat. In doing this he removed one of the biggest challenges of boxing, or any combat sport: you are in there, on your own against someone you, and everyone else watching feels you CAN beat. This brings extreme pressure and anxiety. If you get in there with somebody you don’t believe you can beat, and nobody else feels you’ve got a chance, all of that pressure is removed. The biggest fear of a boxer before a fight, is that they may go out there and look stupid. That they may go and get knocked out in the first round…Jake Paul avoided all this. He couldn’t look stupid because there were no expectations attached to him in this fight, and then he just ran away for 6 rounds anyway. All of Jake Paul’s fights have been matched with a similarly ego-protective mechanism in place: that the opponent is a ‘former champion’, ‘professional boxer’, and most recently ‘2 times world heavyweight champion’. He takes the pressure off himself, and encourages spectators to think the old “well he’s a YouTuber getting on with professional fighters” etc. Jake Paul could just enter an amateur competition, at his weight and experience level…but the prospect of being beaten by an amateur is too much for him. The pressure faced by any combat sports athlete, amateur or pro, is not something he’s encountered yet, and probably never will.

Now on to the stinkier turd of the two, Andrew Tate. He’s famous for many things, including, being a kickboxing ‘world champion’. After Saturday night, that claim should be greeted with scepticism. He was beaten by a person who boxes like he’s 10x over the drink drive limit. This guy looked like he was playing boxing on the Wii sports for the first time, with his eyes closed. Then to rub salt in the wound, he had pink gloves and a man bun. Tate has been shown on social media, spouting such cliches as: “better to have tried and failed than to have never tried” and that he didn’t want to live with a “what if”. We should give him credit for getting in there though right?…wrong, and here’s why: he, like Paul, chose an opponent that he thought would remove the pressure from him. He thought this flailing ladyboy-esque love island contestant would be an easy fight, a REALLY easy fight. He chose a guy who he thought he’d knock out, and reinforce his reputation as the ultimate ‘alpha male’. He chose this fight as he believed it would be easy.

In summary, both of these turds are not the same as amateur or professional boxers who go out there and compete. They both choose their opponents in a way that alleviates the pressure of competitive combat sports. They are both turds in their own way. Rich turds, but turds nonetheless.