Certain internet influencers have spent the last three years filling stadiums so they can step in the ring. These people aren’t boxers but they’ll take each other on anyway and in my view, a lot of it can be entertaining. This craze started when a British youtuber named Joe Weller had a boxing match with his friend. After winning the match Joe issued a challenge to any other youtuber willing to take him on. Fellow British youtuber KSI agreed jokingly which led to Joe bombarding him with personal attacks as the two had been friends in previous years but grew to seriously dislike each other after a falling out.
The two agreed to box in a six round fight in London’s Copperbox arena in which a portion of the profits went to charity. The fight garnered a huge viewership and that made influencer boxing more well known. KSI won the fight via third round stoppage and proceeded to call out American youtuber Logan Paul to a boxing match in his victory speech and that set off a chain of events that has rippled for three years. KSI fought Logan Paul while on the same night, their little brothers Deji and Jake Paul fought each other. Along with a fantastic undercard, the KSI Vs Logan event did extremely well and the fight between Logan and KSI went the full six rounds and can only be described as a war. For two youtubers, they fought like their lives depended on it, making the event more value for money than it already was.
The fight did end with a draw however which led to a rematch a year later. But this was a professional rematch in which the two men would not wear 12oz gloves but 10oz gloves instead and they would not wear headguards as they had previously done. I thought at the time, there would be a knockout due to the new professional standard they had to fight at but surprisingly there wasn’t. They fought for six full rounds again but this time KSI took the victory. The second fight was phenomenal as it showed how much hard work and training both of these men put in for the fight and thankfully when it was all over, they hugged it out and agreed to be friends. Earlier this year, the notoriety of having two boxing matches led to Logan Paul fighting the great Floyd Mayweather which angered many fans of the sport which I find understandable. To Logan’s credit though, he hung in there and really held his own. The state of influencer boxing currently is questionable as there aren’t many of them left fighting save for a few like Jake Paul, Deji and British/Saudi Arabian youtuber Anesongib. Back when it was KSI fighting Logan, it was the golden age of influencer boxing that we’ll never see again. It was fun to watch, to anticipate and debate but at the end of it all, they put their safety on the line to give fans what they want and that makes them real fighters to me