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Influencer boxing has never been short on spectacle, but this weekend delivered a rare dose of consequences for its in-ring combatants. Within 24 hours, Jake Paul and Andrew Tate, two of the internet’s most polarising figures, both suffered emphatic defeats in the ring. While Paul was sent home with a broken jaw to mumble about his place in the world of boxing, Tate will be left wondering whether his long history of openly misogynistic rhetoric was worth getting beaten up on camera.
Paul’s reckoning came first, and it was brutal. The 28-year-old stepped up against former heavyweight world champion Anthony Joshua and lasted six rounds before the referee waved it off. Joshua hurt him repeatedly in the fifth and sixth, eventually ending the fight with a vicious right hand that left little room for debate. A far cry from his novelty bout with Tyson or any of his other more friendly crossovers. This was, without a doubt, a mismatch that played out exactly as many expected.
Immediately after the fight, Paul said his jaw was broken, before spitting blood onto the canvas at Miami’s Kaseya Centre. Images came quickly, including a video shared by his brother, Logan Paul, showing Jake’s teeth visibly shifted. Paul later posted X-rays confirming two fractures. He was taken to the hospital and underwent surgery soon after.
“Just got out of surgery. Everything went smoothly,” Paul wrote on X. “Lots of pain and stiffness. Gotta eat liquids for seven days.” It was a sobering comedown for a fighter who has spent years carefully curating opponents and moments. But credit where it’s due, taking on Joshua suggested a genuine attempt to test himself, even if he came out second best.
Less than a day later, Tate received his own reality check in Dubai, making his long-anticipated boxing debut at a Misfits Boxing event. And while many were hoping for a straight knockout, Tate was beaten by Chase DeMoor via decision. DeMoor applied consistent pressure, landed the cleaner shots, and exposed Tate’s discomfort in a sport he had loudly promised to dominate.
The only thing louder was the internet’s unusually gleeful response. Clips of Tate getting punched circulated widely, accompanied by memes and celebratory commentary that framed the loss less as a sporting upset and more as a cultural moment.
That reaction did not come out of nowhere. Tate has built a global following on openly misogynistic rhetoric and a nihilistic worldview aimed at young, impressionable men. Describing himself as “absolutely a misogynist”, Tate has repeatedly promoted ideas about control and dominance that have drawn widespread criticism. He’s also facing criminal charges relating to human trafficking and has been accused of rape and strangulation (all of which he denies). For many watching, this was a moment of schaendfruede to remember.
Even fellow influencer fighters joined in. KSI posted images of both Tate’s and Paul’s defeats, captioning them, “Christmas came early,” neatly capturing the mood across social media feeds.
When talk inevitably turned to whether the two should face each other next, Tate shut it down himself. “I’m not ready for Jake,” he wrote on X. “Time is the fire in which we all burn. Fighting is for young men.” It was followed by another post insisting that defeat only comes to those who try, but the message was clear enough. He’s done.
Taken together, the weekend felt less like a launchpad for the next influencer boxing spectacle and hopefully more like a pause. Paul will spend months recovering from surgery, whereas Tate sounds unconvinced he’ll ever return to the ring. That is, if he doesn’t end up back in a cell.
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