The ring, the sacred temple of boxing, has opened its doors like never before. In 2021, not only Jake Paul represented the Internet personalities on it with 3 professional fights. There was also a white-collar amateur event that held a war between TiktTok and Youtube in boxing: the Battle of Platforms.
On June 12, 2021, at the Hard Rock Stadium, in Florida, 7 fights of 5 rounds each were held, one member of Team Youtube vs one of Team TikTok. The concept was born after an argument on Twitter between Austin McBroom and Bryce Hall. So, they starred the main event of the evening, which ended with a victory for the Youtuber by the way of TKO in the first round.
The final result was clear domination for the Youtubers: they won 6 fights for just 1 for the TikTokers, the one where Vinnie Hacker overcame British Deji in three rounds. The rest of the results were: AnEsonGib victory over Tayler Holder, DDG defeated Nate Wyatt, FaZe Jarvis victory over Michael Le, Landon McBroom triumph against Ben Azelart and Canadian Ryan Johnston win over Cale Saurage.
Will there be another TikTok vs. Youtube boxing event?
There were several controversies that may not help to have a second edition of this event. For example, the bout between Tanner Fox and Ryland Storms was pulled out one day before the start of the show, due to a weight difference of the contenders. Fox was the one who decided to step away from the fight.
Another polemic moment of the TikTokers vs. Youtubers battle was the AnEsonGib triumph over Tayler Holder. Originally, the result announced immediately after the fight was a majority draw, but on June 14, two days after the event, ISAK director, Tom Sconzo, made official the overturning of the result in favor of AnEsonGib.
Finally, the last problem that turns difficult a come back forthe Battle of Platformsis the claim that some fighters had not been fully paid. The main organizer, Social Gloves, stated that they were “working tirelessly to verify the financial results; a first-class forensic auditor (was hired) to make sure that all amounts are properly accounted for”.