When watching the Jake Paul vs. Anthony Joshua boxing match on Netflix Friday night, my initial and immediate reaction about the fight was that Paul over performed relative to expectations. That’s not to say he excelled, but I didn’t think he’d last past the third. Upon rewatch, it’s still at least somewhat true Paul is a bit better than his most ardent critics claim, but not by much. His problem is that he isn’t nearly as good as his boosters want you to believe.

As I explain in the video, there has been an overly negative reaction to Friday’s bout. It’s not at all clear to me how this was even a fraction as bad as Paul’s bout against Mike Tyson. That’s especially true for those who enjoyed watching Paul get his jaw shattered in two places. Anecdotally, casual fans seem satisfied that what they really wanted out of the experience they got.

But I am not going to give Paul “credit” for lasting longer than Francis Ngannou. His constant flopping and stalling was plainly disgraceful. And sure, by taking an approach to circle without ever really engaging, he was able to last longer, but that’s a game plan for survival, not winning. I’m tired of being asked to view Paul through a prism of former “Disney kid who is just aspiring to be great and shouldn’t we find that admirable?”. No, I don’t find it especially noble and while he courted danger facing a dominant heavyweight puncher in Joshua, if skill isn’t really part of the draw, then all he’s doing is modestly elevated Jackass-esque masochism.

What’s the allure there? This and more in today’s video.