Logan Paul vs Floyd Mayweather isn’t bad for boxing, but it does shine a light on the sport’s decline.

For decades boxing has held a prominent spot in the entertainment industry. Names like Muhammad Ali and Mike Tyson weren’t just fighters; they were icons. The biggest names in sports, whose legends have continued to grow years after their championship reigns.

However, in recent years boxing has struggled to maintain its relevance and has lost much of its popularity. Floyd Mayweather vs. Logan Paul is hardly bad for the sport. But it does show just how desperate the sport has become. As the faces of boxing continue to age and disappear, the sport has struggled to find new names to replace them.

That’s why people would rather watch a 44-year-old Floyd Mayweather fight an 0–1 internet influencer in an exhibition bout more than a championship bout between two evenly matched, highly skilled professionals. It’s hard to argue the fight itself between Mayweather and Paul was entertaining. It went exactly how most people expected. Floyd made Paul look like the inexperienced fighter he was and picked him apart for most of the fight. After all, this was arguably the greatest boxer ever fighting a YouTuber.

Guys like Logan Paul may seem replaceable, but they have become an essential part of boxing over the last few years. With the sport’s popularity among younger audiences at an all-time low, boxing has become reliant on entertainers to make the next generation interested in boxing. Most high schoolers and college kids don’t know who Canelo Alvarez is, but they all know who Logan Paul is.

Boxing has become less popular with the next generation and needs people who are popular with younger demographics to get them to tune in. The problem with these fights is that most of the people watching aren’t boxing fans. They are fans of the fighters. Logan Paul’s fans will follow him to whatever he does next regardless of what that might be. So once Logan leaves boxing for good, so will his fans. Relying on Internet personalities to bring in big pay-per-view numbers may work for a few fights but is unlikely to be sustainable.

Even though fans opposed the fight between Mayweather and Paul, it paints a clear picture of the current state of boxing. It has been over six years since Mayweather was a world champion, yet the sport continues to rely on him to sell big fights. Mike Tyson’s return to boxing last November, echoed the same idea. Whether you like fights between celebrities and boxers well past their primes or not, it is what boxing has become.