Sorry, no Conor McGregor this year.
Landing the cover of Sports Illustrated used to be a big (expletive) deal.
I’m not sure how much weight it still carries in the era of digital media, but kudos to celebrity boxer Jake Paul, who scored the coveted spot ahead of his latest “sweet science” showdown in August, where “The Problem Child” battles former UFC star Nate Diaz.
As expected, purists are not pleased with the selection, claiming Paul “finished boxing off as a sport and turned it into a circus sideshow.” Perhaps they forgot about the time Ronda Rousey made the cover of Ring Magazine — roughly a month before she got knocked clean out by a former boxing champion.
Paul, 26, was also named one of the “50 Most Influential Figures in Sports,” a list that included UFC President Dana White. Certainly no love lost between those two but they spent most of the last year in the headlines, for better or worse.
As for the rest of the list … no sign of the rapidly-fading Conor McGregor.