Viral boxing match between KSI and Logan Paul ends in majority draw

Bradley Cullen

Viral boxing match between KSI and Logan Paul ends in majority draw image

YouTube sensations "The Nightmare" KSI and Logan "The Maverick" Paul brought their online beef to the boxing ring in front of 18,000 people at the Manchester Arena in England on Saturday night. But perhaps they didn't get the closure they desired.

The Internet stars fought to a majority draw with the judges scoring it 58-57 for KSI and two more seeing it as 57-57 to the crowd's disapproval.

 

 

KSI, whose real name is Olajide William Olatunji, Jr., entered the fight with a 1-0 record after beating fellow U.K. YouTuber Joe Weller via a third-round TKO this past February. But it was Paul who dominated the viral bout from the opening bell, using his reach to pepper KSI with jabs and even one strong combination that rocked his opponent. Although KSI landed some combos of his own and ended the bout stronger — even threatening a knockout punch — both amateurs threw and missed wild shots and their lack of stamina was evident. 

After the fight was called a majority draw, KSI said: “There’s only one thing we can do and that's a rematch, right?”

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Paul instantly accepted. Before the fight, there was a rematch agreed upon for Feb. 2019, but in Paul's home, the U.S.

Although their boxing skills were amateur hour, their YouTube numbers were serious. The fight, which was billed as the "biggest amateur boxing match of all time," reportedly peaked at 837,000 live-stream YouTube views. After the fight, the number of streams jumped to upwards of 3.7 million views, a number which should continue to grow. (Viewers were charged $10 to watch the event).

The live-stream numbers could very well have been much higher, as many unofficial websites claimed to be broadcasting the fight as well. Many fans did, however, complain about those live streams.

 

 

While promoting the bout, Paul warned fans about illegal streaming in a video on his YouTube channel, saying: "You cannot watch it unless you purchase the event. We’re going to have hundreds of employees removing any pirated streams. Any highlight clips will also not be available. You’ve gotta buy it."

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The viral fight card also included a co-event, which pitted the younger brothers of KSI and Paul against each other. That bout had Jake Paul dominating Deji to the point that Deji's corner threw in the towel midway through the fifth round, giving Paul the victory. After the win, the younger Paul challenged R&B superstar Chris Brown to a fight.

On the undercard:

  • AnEsonGib beat Jay Swingler.
  • Rackaracka beat Scarce.
  • FaZe Sensei beat Overtflow.
  • JMX beat Coach Richard.
  • MOMO beat RossiHD.
  • Call me Ham beat Jrizzy Jeremy.

Bradley Cullen