Eddie Hearns signing KSI-Logan Paul Los Angeles rematch is either boxing clever for the sport’s future or a punch line

Boxing used to be front page – never mind back page – news. There are those with their heads in the sand but Matchroom’s Eddie Hearn is not among them.

Hearn, one of the biggest promoters in the business, is not willing to wait for boxing to die on him. How else do you explain his involvement in the rematch between rival YouTube stars KSI and Logan Paul?

He admits he had his head turned at their initial fight back in August last year. While he was initially dismissive, he saw that more than 18,000 fans turned up to watch it at the Manchester Arena and 800,000 more purchased the pay-per-view.

“Thirteen months ago when the first fight took place I smirked and pondered how embarrassing it would be to stage this event in a 20,000-seat arena,” Hearn said. “What I saw was a phenomenon – a sold-out arena, over one million pay-per-view buys but more importantly an energy of a new audience to the sport of boxing.”

Demand has not diminished, based on the 4,000 who attended the press conference for the new fight last week.

The British media reported that the initial fight, which was conducted as an amateur bout, made in excess of £150 million (US$190 million) in the end. That’s 150 million reasons for Hearn to lend his support, share his expertise and earn his share of the spoils this time out.

More conservative estimates put the pay per view revenue at £8 million – and that was after the price jumped from £6 to £7.50. The rematch will be £9.95 in the UK.

It’s a far cry from the first “YouTube Championship Belt” bout, where KSI beat Joe Weller in a fight streamed for free on YouTube.

The presence of Michael Buffer to announce the second fight showed it had become glitzier but the November 9 rematch feels different again.

It’s a professional bout, for a start. Both fighters have passed their medicals and that means no headgear and standard 10-ounce gloves.

Whether that increases the chances of seeing an outright winner after the controversial draw in Manchester remains to be seen but both fighters talked a good game at last week’s press conference.

The rematch is in the US, and at the Staples Centre in Los Angeles no less.

Rather than being a YouTube pay-per-view, it will also be broadcast on Sky Sports Box Office in the UK and DAZN in the US. This is as polished as the sport gets.

Further to that, while the original fight’s undercard was all bouts between rival YouTube stars, only the headline fight is this time around. Hearn insisted on this despite the pleas of Paul’s younger brother Jake, who fought KSI’s brother in Manchester.

That means actual boxing between trained professionals on the undercard. It also means a US debut for world champion Billy Joe Saunders and a fight for the promising Devin Haney too.

Hearn has intimated there is more to it than the money. He has voiced his hope that this means a new audience for the boxers and turning the YouTube followers of KSI and Logan Paul – well over 40 million subscribers between them – into fight fans.

Still, the fight has divided opinion in boxing circles with its critics dismissing two men who are not really boxers for getting so much coverage. It will “do huge numbers”, as they say, but for boxing’s traditionalists the fight does not add up.

Is that fair? There are not many household names left in boxing. Floyd Mayweather Jnr and Manny Pacquiao still pull in punters and column inches, but they are both in their 40s. Demand for a rematch might be high but that does not make it any more appetising.

“Money” Mayweather has made a habit of sideshows these days. His fight with UFC superstar Conor McGregor was the biggest thing in boxing in the past few years and talk of a second go keeps resurfacing. McGregor recently tweeted “Eddie, dance for me” at Hearn fuelling rumours that Matchroom can make that happen.

In the meantime, Money and Mystic Mac will meet in Tokyo for a revised version of 1970s TV hit Superstars on New Year’s Eve, run by the same promoters that saw Mayweather clean Japanese kick-boxer Tenshin Nasukawa’s clock ahead of the countdown a year ago.

These sideshows seem bigger than any boxing bout now, bar a few exceptions in the heavyweight division. Anthony Joshua – another Hearn client – is looking for revenge on Andy Ruiz after losing on his US debut at Madison Square Garden in June. They are set to throw down in Saudi Arabia in December. Tyson Fury and Deontay Wilder, two of the sport’s bigger characters, wait in the wings for Joshua but these are few and far between.

Elsewhere, boxing suffers from its bloated governing bodies and fighters such as Nigel Benn wanting to return at 55. That’s a circus.

Maybe it has always been this way. Most current fighters weren’t born when Muhammad Ali took on Antonio Inoki in Tokyo 1976. Since the days of Gentlemen Jim Corbett a century ago, boxers have been showmen. Hearn and the YouTubers they are all professional showmen so maybe this is the breath of fresh air it is looking for.

Surely that’s better than watching the sport die?