There’s a boxing match a-brewin’. Now, this is no hand-picked Apollo Creed versus The Italian Stallion, but it seems to be the new imminent climax to a conflict between male online influencers. KSI vs Logan Paul, KSI’s brother Deji vs FouseyTube, Logan Paul challenging boxing legend Floyd Mayweather — these influencer boxing incidents have become an industry, as millions upon millions of online followers fill sold-out seats. The roads to each of these matches are paved with ultra-masculine intentions, deafening with the sounds of diss tracks, chest-beating and emasculating insults. In the past few months, a new beef was born between veteran YouTube commentator Cr1TiKal and Andrew Tate ally Sneako.
Before you click away, let me affirm: This isn’t some drama recap. This boxing prelude is our case study for the masculine conventions at play in the YouTube manosphere. As the Arts section’s resident black belt, I want to frame our points with the pugilistic pageantry they deserve — ringside asides for our explorations, of course.
HELLO BOXING FAAAAANS! Welcome to the ring! We’ve got a helluva show for you tonight, folks, so let’s do introductions. In one corner, weighing in at a speculated 165 lbs and standing at 5’6” stacked in a self-described “anime character” physique, “Big Moist” Charles White! In our other corner, his challenger weighing in at his own speculated 169 lbs and standing at 6’2” but still unable to beat the stick-arm allegations, “Sneako” Nico Kenn De Ballinthazy! Will this be a fight or a farce? You’ll just have to stick around and see!
This is a brawl of bodies, so let’s discuss physicality first. When you hear those measurements, you are right to assume these men don’t stand as paragons of pugilism. Neither did the Paul brothers or KSI before training for months under professional coaches. Thus, the first engagement with masculinity rears its head.
Think of the ideal male body — or at least what meme culture posits as ideal. If you compare your vision to someone else’s, those ideals would undoubtedly clash. Masculinity is both malleable and self-multiplicative. Different countries have different beauty standards; masculine ideals shift when viewed through the female gaze. They change depending on whether they are non-heteronormative or trapped in some ouroboros of masculinity viewed through the lens of male desirability.
But what if we evaluate the ideal male body based on function? One look at the varying body shapes of the world’s top athletes — both male and female — immediately dispels a single ideal. Even in boxing, there is a wide physical diversity across weight classes and fighting styles. White’s constant sardonic self-aggrandization of his non-masculine-ideal-conforming height aside, he still closes the gap between his opponent’s “Abercrombie & Fitch from 1998” physique, then simultaneously insults and praises Ballinthazy’s efforts to improve his own body in the same sentence. Of course, Ballinthazy fired the first shot in this entire scuffle.
The challenger shouts something about monogamy and his favorite “clickbait” films and throws the first strike — an upset punch straight to the ribs! Though it seemingly lands, Moist keeps his gloves up and is barely moved. Sneako throws another blow. He throws another. And another. And another! And Moist is just not moving, not retaliating at all and seems unbothered by all these shots. His gloves aren’t even up! He’s just staring. I almost feel sorry for Sneako at this point. We can see the challenger’s getting frustrated, he’s squatting low and — OH! HEÆS GONE FOR THE LOWEST BLOW POSSIBLE! Moist grits his teeth, squats and — OH MY LORD, AN UPPERCUT KNOCKS SNEAKO ON THE GROUND! Moist raises his fist in the air — folks, he’s making sure the cameras see the Moist merch logo on his gloves. Ever the opportunist.
So what started the Cr1tiKal versus Sneako beef? I promised you this wasn’t a recap, but a bit of context is necessary: When White mocked members of the FreshandFit podcast for telling obviously false fables of their sexual escapades, Ballinthazy felt he had to defend his hetero-masculine homies’ honor. On his stream, he threw every personal insult he could at White, culminating in an attack on White’s partner and their relationship. White responded with a short video explaining that he found Ballinthazy’s opinion irrelevant because Ballinthazy enjoyed the highly problematic film “Cuties” and, despite Ballinthazy’s discomfort with his own partner cuckolding him, recommended that every couple try the practice. White’s point is a bit more nuanced — he takes issue not with the emasculating fetish itself or with Ballinthazy’s partner, but with Ballinthazy’s recommendation despite his own discomfort. In White’s eyes, Ballinthazy’s relationship impacted his ethos to evaluate anyone’s relationship. White used the drama for an opportunistic plug of his merch: He wore a limited-offer robe in the video, possibly indicating pugilistic potential.
What’s weird is how women are whisked into this conflict, as they were in the KSI versus Logan Paul press conference, where misogynistic chants filled the stadium at the mention of Paul’s partner. “Alpha males” overcompensated for their experiences with women. It escalated when Ballinthazy delivered a low blow to the woman in White’s life and seemingly ends with a similar dismissal targeted toward Ballinthazy’s subpar sex life. Masculinity’s rocky relationship with femininity is displayed here, playing into a tenet of toxic masculinity: anger at emasculation and femininity. What happens when this escalates further?
The challenger is getting up! On his feet, he seems to be shouting challenges to the jeering crowd. Moist shouts out “You forgot a few!” He looks bored, lounging on the ropes while Sneako staggers his way over. The taller man taunts with his glove, but Moist isn’t budging. Sneako begins to attempt a barrage, but Moist nonchalantly ducks and weaves every one. This aggression is quite uneven, folks, and I’m sitting here wondering where it all comes from. Sneako looks more and more frustrated, but oh? What’s he doing now? He seems to be baring his teeth at Moist, making the loudest chomping noises he can with his mouthguard in. Sneako seems to be threatening to take a page out of Mike Tyson’s playbook, and Moist looks just the slightest bit disturbed. Let me tell you, folks, I am even more perturbed. Jaw agape with screams, Sneako puts all his weight into a quick left hook to expose Moist’s head — and there’s another dodge! But folks, Sneako’s left himself wide open by not retreating his hand and Moist takes full advantage, jabbing with a left upset to the stomach and one helluva right hook! The old one-two has knocked Sneako out, besting him in the ring and in technique! This has barely gone on for a round! I want to swallow my microphone, folks! What kind of pathetic presentation of pugilism is this!? And of course, Moist raises his glove again, showcasing it for the cameras!
After White’s initial video, Ballinthazy spent months fuming and taking petty jabs at White over Twitter and on his Rumble livestreams. On March 12, Ballinthazy tweeted a collage consisting of online figures who had “canceled” him, including White. White tweeted back on the same day: “Holy shit you pathetic, sensitive, soy, little worm. I made fun of you for watching your girlfriend get fucked by numerous other men and also insulted you for defending child porn. That’s not cancellation, that’s just spitting on you for being a pitiful, sad cuck.”
I’ve quoted the full tweet to analyze it as a text. The term “soy,” especially paired with “sensitive,” in this context refers to soy’s pseudoscientific link to effeminization, a term used by both Ballinthazy and White, because it contains a plant analog to estrogen. Note that White also doubles down on calling Ballinthazy a “cuck.” Recall that White doesn’t have an intrinsic issue with cuckoldry but Ballinthazy’s particular engagement with it — but he still uses it as an insult. Even while White deconstructs aspects of masculinity, he cannot resist the urge to engage with its more problematic parts. Why? Maybe because tweets can’t exceed 280 characters. Maybe because White feels the need to stoop to Ballinthazy’s level. Maybe it’s just punchier.
Now is when the true altercations begin (yeah, now). Ballinthazy challenges White to a fight over multiple Twitter responses. White, wearing the same branded bathrobe as before, finally releases another video on the matter. He addresses the challenge but, more importantly, a clip of Ballinthazy dancing around with a handgun on stream threatening to appear at White’s house. In the clip, Ballinthazy responds to White’s refusal to have him on stream for screaming slurs — White instead told Ballinthazy to watch his clips — by shouting, “WATCH THESE CLIPS” and brandishing the gun and its ammo. White apologizes for having to be pedantic, then displays a larger handgun and corrects Ballinthazy’s terminology: “What you have there is not (sic) clips. These are mags.” He then pulls out an assault rifle and gives the same demonstration.
White uses a self-admitted petty opportunity for correction in a masculine display of firearm superiority, as well as a common-sense display of his own defenses, all in the first two minutes of the video. White’s 15-minute video allows himself time for a more nuanced dismissal than a Twitter roast, but also time to take full advantage of his opponent: He criticizes Ballinthazy for being unable to write his own banter and using his fanbase as a tool for venting. He notes that Ballinthazy has ducked on previous challenges and surmises he’s only challenging White because of their height difference.
These new points lie outside pigeonholed masculine conflicts and criticize Ballinthazy’s character as an entertainer and person. White tops it off with his response to Ballinthazy’s challenge: “Even if you beat my ass in a fight, it doesn’t change the truth … When you are getting your feelings hurt and your immediate response isn’t to fire back with insults, jokes, whatever — it’s to challenge someone to a fight — you’ve taken a huge L … the only thing you can resort to is your caveman brain saying, ‘I’ll beat you in a fight.’ … I’m averse to going into a boxing match, especially one that’s just a clout-driven spectacle like this.”
Yeah, sorry. They’re never actually going to box. I’ve been lying to you.
I’ve been lying to you the same way influencer boxers fake beef and give it an insane degree of hypermasculine hype to pad their pockets. I’ve been lying to you the way Ballinthazy repeatedly challenges influencers to fight online to maintain relevance but never follows through. I’ve been lying to you the way influencer boxers manipulate, market and ultimately undermine masculinity for their own gains.
Creating narratives around these matches isn’t an inherent ill — the WWE is famous for its scripted yet stunning storylines — but all of these men are seen as role models to large swathes of boys, and they deserve to be deglamorized. White stands above this as he still participates in the internet’s lower masculine squabbles but still deconstructs these issues, even finally having a lengthy call with Ballinthazy to defuse the situation and discuss their differences.
Now that you know that all of this is fake … isn’t this all goofy as hell? Why have you been reading about influencer boxing in the Arts section instead of Sports? Is there ever an appropriate way to insult someone with “cuck?” What’s the proper response when petty clashes of masculinity escalate into death threats? And most importantly: Through everything we’ve discussed, what becomes the value of a man in the mire of modern-day masculinity?
I started writing this because I found these masculine conventions interesting and thought it would be cool to write boxing scenarios after watching “Rocky” last month. While analyzing the world of influencer boxing, I found it as upsetting as it is interesting. It also made me nostalgic. I’ve been a black belt in taekwondo since I was a teenager. Medical issues forced me to quit but, as my boxing gloves gather dust, I find myself missing getting kicked in the face, having the wind knocked out of me or being slammed into a dojang mat. Boxing, like taekwondo, is an art — a martial art — a performance that I miss engaging in with my classmates. Martial arts are expressions of the human body, as artistically valid as any other work in existence — when they’re afforded the reverence they deserve: like YouTube boxing’s respectful spin-off and charity event Creator Clash.
And you know what? I’ve boxed punching bags until my knuckles bled and painted the nails of those very hands for the same exact reason: Because I fucking wanted to. Masculinity can be besmirched, anatomized or dismissed entirely — but it’s an inescapable engendering force. We are defined by how we individually interact with it. So, to everyone that has to — including Ballinthazy, any influencer boxer and even White — please strongly consider what kind of man you are. Maybe when we’re all better, we could meet again in the ring.
Digital Culture Beat Editor Saarthak Johri can be reached at sjohri@umich.edu.