The Rise Of The Content King: How Fighters Like Shakur Stevenson Are Using Social Media To Earn Millions

Jake Paul posted a message today to fighters, advising them that they need to become social media savvy to promote themselves. He points out that promoters are no longer “good at promoting” fighters in the way that they did in the past. It now requires fighters to promote themselves on social media by creating daily content.

Fighters as Entrepreneurs

Fighters can no longer focus on training, relying on their promoters or the network platform to gain popularity and earn mega millions. As Jake mentions, boxers must be on the phone studying content and looking for angles to sell themselves.

Some of the most active fighters on Social Media

• Ryan Garcia
• Jake Paul
• Shakur Stevenson
• Devin Haney
• Teofimo Lopez
• Gervonta Davis
• Conor Benn

The Shakur Stevenson Blueprint

Those fighters are among the most popular in the sport, but not necessarily the best in their respective weight classes. WBC lightweight champion Shakur is an example of a fighter who has transmuted his popularity on social media to make millions fighting on Turki Alalshikh’s Riyadh Season cards.

You can argue that the hard work that Stevenson has done on X is the reason behind his being noticed by Turki and paid well to fight the likes of Josh Padley and William Zepeda.

Why Old Ways Fail

“Social media is the future for boxing- branding for fighters, getting yourself out there,” said Jake Paul to the WBO on X. “A lot of promoters aren’t good at promoting anymore in the traditional sense, which is why MVP has done such a good job because we are social media first.”

Jake’s following on Instagram, YouTube, and X is massive, which has helped him make a lot of money in his short five-year professional career. Since turning pro in 2020, Paul has made over $100 million, according to MSN. On Instagram, Jake has over 28.7 million followers, and 20.9 million on YouTube. This means he can advertise his fights to his followers on various platforms, in addition to X and TikTok, and generate substantial revenue.

“Everyone is on their phone at all times, scrolling all day long. You have to be in front of them. You have to make content,” said Paul. “You have to take it into your own hands a lot of the time to be your own promoter. You have to take it seriously. Almost as seriously as your taking boxing. The same time you’re putting in the gym should also be how much time you’re putting into your content.

The New Promoter’s Playbook

“Know content, you watch content, you see viral videos all the time. So, make your own versions of it. Film yourself training. Put more effort into it. Learn how to edit. Get yourself out there. Be loud, be proud, have a personality, tell the world who you are, and tell your story. It’s extremely important, and boxing depends on you doing it to grow the sport and grow your own brand to become one of the biggest fighters in the world. You guys can do it. Seriously, believe in yourself,” said Paul.