YouTubers vs. TikTokers, billed as ''Battle of the Platforms'' was a

amateur boxing Amateur boxing is a variant of boxing practiced at the collegiate level, at the Olympic Games, Pan American Games and Commonwealth Games, as well as many associations. Amateur boxing bouts are short in duration, comprising three rounds of three ...

event which featured YouTubers and

TikToker TikTok, known in China as Douyin (), is a short-form video hosting service owned by the Chinese company ByteDance. It hosts user-submitted videos, which can range in duration from 15 seconds to 10 minutes. TikTok is an international version ...

s. The main event was between American YouTuber Austin McBroom and American TikToker Bryce Hall. The undercard included a exhibition bout between YouTuber AnEsonGib and TikToker Tayler Holder. It was held on June 12, 2021 at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, Florida. In the main event, Austin McBroom defeated Bryce Hall in three rounds with a technical knockout. In the penultimate event, AnEsonGib defeated Tayler Holder in a unanimous decision. Overall, Team YouTube defeated Team TikTok 6-1. The event was promoted as the Battle of the Platforms by Social Gloves. The first two undercard matches were broadcast free of charge on social-media sites, and the pay-per-view was broadcast on

LiveXLive LiveOne (formerly known as LiveXLive) is a music streaming platform that combines audio and (sometimes live) video available in the US and Canada. Users can access the service on the web through mobile apps on smartphones and over-the-air device ...

. Sports journalist Emily Austin was the correspondent for the Battle of the Platforms hosted by

media.

Background

McBroom feuded on Twitter with TikToker Bryce Hall in early March 2021, and a match was booked between them. On March 18, LiveXLive announced a full card of YouTubers vs. TikTokers in which YouTuber Tanner Fox was scheduled to face Nick Austin and YouTuber FaZe Jarvis was scheduled to face TikToker Micheal Le. The third fight was between YouTuber and rapper DDG and TikToker Nate Wyatt. In the third fight, TikToker Tayler Holder was scheduled to face a YouTuber chosen by fans; YouTuber Danny Duncan was also scheduled to face a random TikToker chosen by fans for the fourth fight. The semi-main event was between British YouTuber Deji and TikToker Vinnie Hacker. A majority of fans chose AnEsonGib in the fight against Tayler Holder. TikToker Nick Austin later left the event, and was replaced by Ryland Storms. YouTuber Danny Duncan also left, and was replaced by Ryan Johnston. TikToker Cale Saurage was added to the card.

Press conference

The YouTube and TikTok boxers had their first press conference on May 18, which was hosted by YouTubers Keemstar and FouseyTube. Near the end of the press conference, a fight between McBroom and Hall broke out on stage.

Weigh-in

Before the weigh-in began, there was an altercation backstage between Fousey and Deji, who was noticeably unfit in comparison to the other fighters. The weigh-in, also hosted by Keemstar and Fousey, was held on June 11 in Miami. Austin McBroom weighed 172 lb (78 kg), and Bryce Hall weighed 165.4 lb (75 kg). For the co-main event, AnEsonGib weighed 179 lb (81 kg); Tayler Holder weighed 175 lb (79 kg).

Fight card

* Y = Team YouTube * T = Team TikTok

Broadcast

The event was a pay-per-view broadcast on

. Fousey was the ring announcer for the fights, except for the main event. It featured performances by DJ Khaled, Lil Baby,

Migos Migos () is an American hip hop trio from Lawrenceville, Georgia, founded in 2008. The group was originally composed of Southern rappers Quavo, Takeoff, and Offset. Quavo is from Athens, Georgia; Offset and Takeoff were born and raised in Law ...

and Trippie Redd. The first two fights on the undercard, Ryan Johnston vs. Cale Saurage and Landon McBroom vs Ben Azelart, were broadcast free of charge on YouTube. A

pay-per-view Pay-per-view (PPV) is a type of pay television or webcast service that enables a viewer to pay to watch individual events via private telecast. Events can be purchased through a multichannel television platform using their electronic program guid ...

image would show in the screen, blocking the person watching the main card for free.

Controversies

Storms–Fox controversy

After Tanner Fox and Ryland Storms had their weigh-in one day before the fight, Storms claimed that Fox pulled out of the match because of their weight difference. On the Social Gloves live stream, it was announced that Fox had pulled out. At ringside, ring announcer Fousey interviewed Fox. Fox criticized Storms and said that he was willing to fight, but the commission would not allow it.

AnEsonGib–Holder controversy

After AnEsonGib and Tayler Holder's bout, Fousey announced that the match was a majority draw; the official scorecard was 49-46, 49-46 and 50-46. Based on the scorecard, it could only have been a

unanimous Unanimity is agreement by all people in a given situation. Groups may consider unanimous decisions as a sign of social, political or procedural agreement, solidarity, and unity. Unanimity may be assumed explicitly after a unanimous vote or impl ...

split decision A split decision (SD) is a winning criterion in boxing, most commonly in full-contact combat sports, in which two of the three judges score one particular competitor as the winner, while the third judge scores for the other competitor. A split dec ...

in favour of one of the fighters. Although Fousey was blamed by many, he disagreed with the results and said that AnEsonGib should have won. Based on the punch statistics, AnEsonGib fared substantially better and led many fans to wonder if there was a mistake or the fight was rigged. During the post-fight interview, AnEsonGib said that he was "robbed"; Holder also disagreed with the result, saying that he should have won. According to Holder, AnEsonGib weighed more than the agreed-upon limit; this forced Holder to artificially inflate his weight, presumably with weights in his pocket. On June 14,

ISKA The ISKA (originally International Sport Karate Association, later also called the International Sport Kickboxing Association) is one of the major international bodies regulating sport karate and kickboxing matches, and is based in the United ...

director Tom Sconzo released a statement overturning the result and giving the victory to AnEsonGib by unanimous decision. According to Sconzo, the mistake was a "plain simple human error".

References

{{Reflist 2020s in Miami-Dade County, Florida 2021 in boxing 2021 in Internet culture 2021 in sports in Florida Boxing matches Crossover boxing events Events in Florida June 2021 sports events in the United States Sports competitions in Miami Gardens, Florida TikTok YouTube YouTube Boxing events