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Charleston White pepper sprayed Suede
53-year-old YouTuber Charleston White was set to box 22-year-old influencer Suede at an Influencer Championship Boxing event this weekend. However, things got out of hand.
During a face-off, Suede pushed White back (something we’ve seen plenty of times at face-offs and weigh-ins). Then, White responded with something I’ve never seen before. Video below shows White seemingly pepper spray his young opponent.
Suede later tried to accost White at a different location. This time, while wearing street clothes, White cracked Suede on the top of the head with a metal object. As Suede advanced again, it’s revealed that the object is a switchblade. When White revealed he is holding a bladed weapon, Suede backs away — blood trickling from his head. Suede then seemed to suggest this won’t be the end of their confrontation.
Charleston White has since apologized to the Arizona Boxing Commission, though in a manner which also provided content for his YouTube channel.
The downside of ‘cross-over boxing’
Ever since Logan Paul and KSI first tangled in ‘white-collar boxing’, combat sports has bloated with the inclusion of hundreds of influencers who are trying to parlay boxing appearances into increased subs, likes and follows and the subsequent cash those metrics bring in.
There’s a so-called cross-over boxing event every other week and figures like Jake Paul and Bryce Hall out draw 90% of UFC and mainstream boxing events whenever they go up against them.
Influencers are here to stay in boxing (and bare knuckle fighting). They are making too much money and garnering too much attention to leave.
And for the most part, it’s harmless fun. I’ve advocated for Jake Paul to face Canelo Alvarez in an exhibition fight and I smiled when Astrid Wett and Alexia Grace cat-fished us with a fake boxing fight turned WWE spot.
But I’m afraid, as this pseudo-sport continues to grow, we’re only going to see more incidents like what happened between Charleston White and Suede. These characters are desperate for fame and attention (because it makes them money) and they will continue to push boundaries, to become more and more extreme, in order to reach those goals.
Mainstream combat sports is not above all this
Though the actions of Charleston White and Suede, and many others, aren’t anything to be proud of. Let’s make sure we don’t pretend boxing and MMA is above this kind of thing.
Mainstream combat sports does include many admirable characters and is filled with incredible feats of skill, mental fortitude and athleticism. But boxing and MMA also feature characters, at both the highest and lowest levels of the game, who do reprehensible things and associate with literal criminals, dictators and warlords.
Whether they are athletes or influencers, the fight game will always produce dangerous and disgusting moments that risk overshadowing anything good that happens in the sport.
Bloody Elbow excels at covering fight-related nonsense like this. We do it for the eyeballs and the ad revenue and to amuse our loyal audience who appreciates that nonsense is a big part of the combat carnival.
We also do some of the most serious reporting and hard-hitting opinion pieces in the game. We’re independent and answer to you, our readers. Subscribe to our newsletter to keep up with the whole range and variety of what we do.
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