#FameVsClout: A low point for humanity, and the best entertainment in ages!

I’ve been feeling strange, and I’ve only now been able to put my finger on why that is. It’s because I watched that blasted #FameVsClout boxing match!

This bizarre event – a boxing match to settle some beef between YouTuber Slik Talk and rapper Cassper Nyovest – confirmed some of the basest trends afoot in our society. Foremost among these was the uncoupling of production values as a prerequisite for successful entertainment.

Also Read: Cassper Nyovest delivers a R100K beating, asks ‘who’s crying now?’

In principle, this is quite noble. If we don’t need expensive, glossy productions, then content becomes democratised, and anyone can become a creator, or an entertainer.

On the other hand, some production values are there for a reason.

#FameVsClout drew around 100 000 viewers on Wednesday night – myself among them – and the set-up was pretty basic. I spotted a single bleacher of about five or six tiers, someone had dropped blackout cloth around the venue, and a couple of multi-coloured stage lights appeared to have been repurposed from Cassper’s touring rig.

That was as good as it got.

The boxing ring looked a tad smaller than regulation, the “referee” was wearing jeans, and there did not appear to be any judges. There was no sign of any covid protocols. No one seemed clear what the rules were, or how long the fight was scheduled to run. There was some talk about three one-minute rounds, but ultimately, no one really seemed to be in charge.

For a bout involving a couple of amateur fighters – one of whom had clearly never boxed before – no one seemed to have considered using boxing headgear.

My initial concerns were realised when Cassper began landing blows against Slik, who appeared to have no way of defending himself. Mercifully, the ref ended the fight after about a minute, putting everyone out of their misery.

Then, unwisely, they restarted the bout, and embarked on another minute’s worth of slugging, which saw Cassper land a couple more potentially harmful blows, and Slik attempt an unsuccessful rugby tackle.

Eventually things were brought to some kind of a conclusion. Cassper was the obvious winner, and Slik had survived. He confirmed on his channel the next day, before his iconic wooden wardrobe, that he had been paid has match fee, too.

Also Read: It’s Andile vs Cassper in battle of the McLarens

On the night, there was also a post-fight teaser moment, when singer Naakmusiq took the stage and challenged Cassper to another celebrity slugfest – this time, at the Sun City Superbowl.

On the superficial level, the event was a travesty. It was unsafe, there was no sign of professional boxing promoters, and no brand was brave enough to put its name to the event. The live social-media chat that accompanied the fight was almost unanimously cynical, bemoaning the quality of the production, the fact that it was probably an Omicron festival and the obvious mismatch.

There seemed to be a feeling that we, as South Africans should respect ourselves a bit more. That we are somehow better than this.

But here’s the thing: there was a lot of social-media commentary. While the entire show was indeed dire, and a low ebb for humanity in general, it had a kind of can’t-look-away, car-crash quality to it. Much as I shudder at what I saw on Wednesday night, and much as I wanted to wash the entire experience from my skin with a scrubbing brush afterwards… I was entertained.

A Las-Vegas production this was not, but somehow it caught the popular zeitgeist. Maybe this is indeed where we are as a nation. Perhaps a country riddled with crime, corruption, incompetence, unemployment, Covid apathy and economic stagnation deserves exactly this.

A macho non-event built on toxic masculinity, possibly in the back room of a strip club, between two guys who have no idea how to box, streamed on YouTube before a bored, cynical nation, who suddenly can’t get enough of it!

Somehow, despite everything, it worked. In fact, this may be the future of boxing!

Internationally, the sport has already begun moving into the celebrity space. YouTuber Jake Paul has had a few fights; Floyd Mayweather had his big-money showdown against MMA star Conor McGregor; and reigning heavyweight champ Tyson Fury is as much a karaoke-crooning caricature as he is a highly talented fighter.

Everything we once took for granted no longer applies. Nothing works the way it used to. And hell, neither should sports, entertainment, or whatever that was. We can’t be too precious.

That fight was a horrific, train smash of chaos, and the most entertaining thing I’ve watched since Spider-Man. I’m watching that Sun City one for sure!