That influencers or streamers move to professional sports is no longer so strange to see, this is what happened to football with the creation of the Kings League by Ibai Llanos and Gerard Piqué. However, one of the sports that is happening more unnoticed and that influencers have also taken over is boxing. This Saturday, the Atlético de Madrid field will host the third edition of La Velada del Año III organized by streamer Ibai Llanos. This is a new entertainment format of streaming platforms that started in 2021, they have broken audience records and reached more than three million viewers on Twitch.
These evenings move professional boxing to bouts between content creators and add singer performances. The 60,000 tickets to attend the event (with prices ranging from 30 to 143 euros) were sold out just one hour after they went on sale on May 4. “What absolute barbarity. We will try to live up to it”, said the surprised Ibai on his social networks.
The evening of the YouTuber friend of Piqué will have six boxing matches, among which there is the female confrontation between the Mexican streamer RiverS and the tiktoker LaRivers. Another of the most anticipated fights is that of the gamer against the singer Abraham Mateo, who has said: “We go with everything and there can be luck”, after having to replace the YouTuber Papi Gavi just three weeks before the event with a health problem. Ibai has had to resolve another loss, that of the streamer Amouranth, affected by a problem of ovarian insufficiency. The Basque YouTuber has confirmed that he has found a replacement – whom he has called “the chosen one” – to fight against content creator Mayichi, although he will not reveal who it is. “You will see that day on stage who it is”, he explained on his Twitch channel.
In addition, it will include the performances of singers such as Rosario Flores, Estopa and Ozuna, and the recent confirmation of an “enigma” artist who is speculated to be Rosalía, or her fiance, Rauw Alejandro.
The YouTuber Jordi Wild is another of the content creators who opt for this format. In February 2022, he created elseu Dogfight Wild Tournament, an underground boxing evening broadcast on YouTube and starring professional fighters.
And now, tiktokers have also landed in boxing. A few days ago the cover of Leganés (Madrid) witnessed the first edition of the Famma League. This evening hosted all kinds of celebrities, from television personalities such as Dakota Tarraga – ex-contestant of Hermano Mayor – to urban rap and trap singers such as Jarfaiter or Khaled – ex-member of La Mafia del Amor. These two musicians, under the Rapper Fight category, starred in the fight with the most impact on social networks. In addition, an entourage of tiktokers and influencers like Ibelky, boyfriend of the winner of two Ídolo awards for the best tiktoker, LolaLolita, or Guille Monzón, who has 100,000 followers on Instagram, took part in the event.
This new trend is a mass phenomenon due to the thousands of followers of each of the participants and the performances of the most recognized singers in the current music scene. The fights are far from professional, although the boxers have recognized trainers, international judges and the rules of professional boxing are followed. However, the aim is to offer a show more focused on entertainment.
The trend for content creators to switch to professional boxing was born when YouTubers like KSI and Jake Paul, known for making challenge videos, began to take an interest in the sport. In 2015, England’s KSI challenged Jake’s brother Logan to a fight, and although it was a draw, the matchup generated a mind-blowing audience. Since then, these content creators have participated in various battles, always facing other streamers or retired boxers.
