Max Bottaro

Kevin Ferguson, better known as Kimbo Slice, took his fourth consecutive victory yesterday against a Britain’s burly James Thompson. With a prepubescent professional track record of 4-0, its a wonder Ferguson is able to attract the crowd and fan base he does.

Ferguson’s celebrity status stems from quite the organic soil- Youtube.com. For those of you who haven’t heard (or been shown) here is the video that launched Ferguson’s professional fighting career, and was the talk of gitty high school boys and UFC fans alike:

Kimbo’s debut

Today’s celebrities are chosen much more diplomatically, and the road to stardom has changed drastically in a short period of time. Ten years ago, heroes were made famous through traditional medians like television, radio, and press publicity. I can hardly imagine some staunchy 40+ year old cable TV network CEO saying “let’s do a special on this Slice fellow. He’s quite the backyard brawler, and I think our viewers would enjoy it!” No, ten years ago slices fame would have dissolved in the bureaucratic acid of autocratic media.

Today’s youth is much more picky about what forms of advertisement it will endorse. I love Ferguson’s story because he truly is the people’s champ. With literally tens of millions of views on Youtube, the UFC couldn’t afford to ignore such a popular fighter. Ferguson didn’t network, he didn’t try and advertise himself, and he didn’t have friends in high places. What he did have was the raw theatrics, raw force, and a truly terrifying knockout power people apparently crave. The bureaucratic giants had not choice but to bandwagon along.

If only presidential candidates-with their multimillion dollar campaigns-were half as successful as Ferguson at marketing themselves virally then perhaps voter turnout for younger demographics wouldn’t be so dismal. Alas, Wyclef is the only one who seems to realize the power of the internet in reaching younger audiences, and Obama has him to thank for it.

Whether or not Ferguson is “the real deal” or just an internet phenomenon has been the area of much debate. I would argue it doesn’t really matter. He is exciting, and people will pay to see him fight. I would imagine Ferguson could win as little as 1/3 of his matches and still remain gainfully employed. He brings me back to the Tyson era, where warriors wowed us with displays of ferocity and savagery. Let’s face it, fighting fans come to see violent and exciting knockouts. No one ever walks into the MGM thinking “Boy, I sure hope this one goes to the cards!”. Ferguson delivers in terms of personality and knockout power like no one since Mike Tyson.

As a personal aside, I think Tyson packed more power on a smaller frame, and it’s way to early in Ferguson’s career to compare him to a former Heavyweight champion. Still, I’m excited for the next chapter.