JAKE PAUL and Ben Askren are on course to become boxing’s fifth most-viewed fight ever with 2million pay-per-views, Triller’s Hollywood backer said.
YouTube phenomenon Paul and retired UFC welterweight Askren are set to box on April 17, on social media app Triller’s ‘Fight Club’ PPV platform.
The brains behind the operation is Ryan Kavanaugh, CEO of billion dollar film company Relativity Media, who have produced over 250 movies.
Kavanaugh entered the boxing business with a boom last November, bringing heavyweight icon Mike Tyson, 54, out of retirement.
And on the undercard, Paul, 24, became a viral sensation after knocking out ex-NBA point guard Nate Robinson, 36.
The nostalgia of Tyson’s first fight in 15 years and Paul’s army of fans helped the spectacle event sell 1.6m PPVs.
But Kavanaugh claimed he has the numbers to prove that Askren’s shot at the internet star will surpass those figures and smash at least 2m box office buys.
He told SunSport: “We run some analytics and statistics on our fights in terms of what we project it will do.
“I actually project this fight will be in the top five all-time pay-per-views, more than Tyson.
“A lot of variables go into our AI that’s running but what we look at is the social activity and the type of audience.
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“In Jake’s case, you’ve got a guy that when you analyse the amount of interactivity that he’s getting socially on the content he posts, you basically know that he and that fight is already good for about 1.5m buys.
“Then, you take the fact that Askren brings an MMA audience with him that others don’t, meaning it’s a steeper audience.
“We haven’t announced our undercard yet but we have some pretty awesome fights on that card that will excite even the highest of boxing purists.
“Then you add on all the music talent like we had last time and we’re shooting it a whole different way.
“When you add each of those components we don’t see how we do under 2m buys.”
Paul made his professional boxing debut in 2020, having won an exhibition bout in England in 2018.
He quickly recorded two KOs in as many fights, firstly against online rival ‘AnEsonGib’ and then Robinson.
Paul has since emerged as one of the most polarising characters in boxing after just 12 months in the sport.
Despite not yet beating an opponent with fighting experience, he called to face UFC pair Conor McGregor, 32, and Nate Diaz, 35.
But with 20MILLION YouTube subscribers behind him, and PPV interest to back it up, the ex-vlogger has promised to become ‘the future of boxing’.
And Kavanaugh reckons if Paul can convince his masses of fans and followers to support his boxing career, he can become good to his word.
He said: “Boxing was not an under 30s sport it was an over 30s sport.
“So what I would say is that he might become the face of boxing, not because everyone in boxing says he’s the face of boxing, but he brings a whole other audience to boxing.
“When I say the ‘face’, if he brings a million people with him to the buys, a lot of them were not buyers of boxing before.”
Despite Paul’s promise as a PPV attraction, he is yet to test himself against a challenger with a background in fighting.
That will change in just under two months, when he faces Askren, who won titles in Bellator and ONE Championship before joining the UFC in 2019.
The American, who retired after three UFC fights, is not recognised for his striking skills and instead relied on wrestling and grappling.
But Askren, 36, is an experienced veteran and Kavanaugh argues Paul should be credited for his drastic step up in competition.
He explained: “There’s definitely a big question on whether he’s going to win.
“He’s going up against somebody considered to be one of the best fighters in the world.
“In boxing, I get you’re only as big as your last fight and so on and so forth, just like in Hollywood you’re only as good as your last movie, but I think it’s a bit different with Jake.
“Because here’s a guy that isn’t a traditionally trained fighter, it’s not his first career and he’s getting in the ring with a guy who is a traditionally trained fighter whose spent his life between wrestling and mixed martial arts.
“I think win or lose people will give Jake the credit for getting in the ring with someone who is that ferocious.”
