Jake Paul v Tommy Fury: Is Saudi Arabia fight ‘entertainment’ or ‘proper’ boxing?

To promote their upcoming fight, Paul and Fury clashed in the ring before the world-title light-heavyweight bout between Anthony Yarde and Artur Beterbiev last month.

Beterbiev, one of the best in the world, waited patiently in his dressing room as a topless Fury went head-to-head with Paul.

It was quite the visual representation of how boxing has evolved in recent times, and posed the question of whether it is acceptable for a pound-for-pound star to wait for his title defence while two novices hype up their bout?

Warren defends the decision, describing it as a perfect opportunity to promote Paul-Fury to a global audience, while Frampton calls it “a bit cringe”.

Hearn was not a fan either, but does believe fighters can learn a great deal from the rise of entertainment boxing, particularly on how to build a profile and engage with fans.

In an age where social media fanbase often dictates your level of celebrity, Paul has 63.9 million followers and subscribers combined across YouTube, Twitter, Instagram and TikTok.

“These YouTubers are tremendous self-promoters,” Hearn says.

“They spend their entire time building their own individual platform and engaging and interacting with fans and customers on a daily basis.

“Whether it’s boxing or YouTube, people like characters, people like personalities, people like confrontation.

“We can learn that fighters need to build their profile, they need to build their platform, they need to interact, via their promotional company and by spending time on it themselves. “