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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
Sport
Donagh Corby

Iranian Hulk vs Kazakh Titan undercard featuring controversial YouTuber Ryan Taylor

Iranian Hulk and Kazakh Titan are not the only social media stars stepping into the ring tonight at the Dubai Wicked 'n' Bad fight night.

The British promotion are bringing their unique brand of white collar boxing to the P7 Arena in Dubai, with YouTube star Ryan Taylor also set to feature, as well as Bellator MMA veteran Anthony Taylor, muay-thai fighter Jen Lopez and a host of other interesting characters, including more professional boxers.

The super-heavyweight main event will capture most of the headlines, but fans of YouTube boxing will be intrigued to see Taylors Ryan and Anthony ad they both seek redemption following poor recent showings. Also featured are some Wicked 'n' Bad staples like Pro boxer and Trey Ndele.

Here's all you need to know about tonight's undercard...

Ryan Taylor vs Anthony Taylor

British YouTube star Ryan Taylor may be the only person who can get fans of YouTube boxing to want to cheer for Jake Paul's teammate Anthony Taylor. The famed BMX rider has millions of followers across his social media, and has had two forays into the boxing world so far this year.

First, he squared off with American DK Money at the debut of Showstar Boxing at the OVO Arena Wembley back in March. But the bout only lasted a matter of seconds before he head-butted his rival, causing an instant disqualification after having already gotten into an altercation at the pre-fight weigh-in the night before with coach Andrew Stafford.

Then, he was scheduled to take on American YouTuber Slim Albaher on Kingpyn Boxing's show at The O2 arena's smaller Indigo venue. But after a heated press conference, he ended up in a hotel lobby altercation with Albaher, who suffered a detached retina and had to pull out of the fight.

Meanwhile, Anthony is a veteran MMA fighter with a 7-5 professional record, having built back up from a disastrous 2-5 start to his career. He's also 2-3 as a professional boxer, including a famous fight with Tommy Fury after he had teamed up with Jake Paul last summer.

The American is wildly unpopular with YouTube boxing fans after taking on Jay 'Mellow Fellow' Cuccinello at Showstar in London. He was asked at the last minute to step in and replace Ashley Cain's bout with model Andreeas Eskander, but wires got crossed and what he thought was just a move around exhibition was sold to fans as a legitimate fight, which they didn't deliver.

It's a battle for redemption in the co-main event.

Ryan Taylor headbutted his rival DK Money in his boxing debut (Showstar Boxing)

Nursultan Amanzholov vs. Shapi Mushota

Heavyweights Amanzholov and Mushota are two relatively experienced fighters in the Wicked 'n' Bad sphere, particularly former MMA fighter Mushota. The pair will fight in one of the more anticipated bouts on this card.

Mushota is well-known around MMA gyms in Dubai, particularly TK MMA which is run by Tam Khan. The venue is famous for having influencers and top professional fighters stop by, with the likes of Slim Albaher and Niall Ryan setting up shop there before their recent fights, and the likes of Tyson Fury, Darren Till, Leon Edwards and Harry Jowsey stopping by.

However, he should be no match for professional boxer Amanzholov, who has competed in the World Series of Boxing in the past. If he goes into this taking it in any way seriously, expect an early night for the Kazakh giant.

Pro Boxer vs Trey Ndele

Former football player Ndele has a brief background in the sport of boxing, having previously taken on Yusef Bouattoura during Wicked 'n' Bad's Sunday smoke. he fought well, but was unable to get the victory in a controversial decision.

Having spent time at clubs like Motherwell throughout his career, Ndele clearly has the athleticism to compete at the influencer boxing level. He looked impressive at times against Bouattoura, who goes by the nickname 'Pro PT' and has never lost in the gym-fight tournament.

Pro Boxer, whose real name isn't clear, is expected to begin promoting another fight the following week, and will hope to put in a big performance in this bout. He has previously won a number of unsanctioned Wicked 'n' Bad bouts.

Jen Lopez vs Josephine Taniee

Muay-Thai fighter Jen Lopez shares a name with a very famous actress, but she appears to have a sizable following of her own in the Middle East. She fought as recently as three weeks ago, and will be expected to get another big victory in the books in this boxing match.

Taniee is something of an unknown quantity, and it's hard to gauge how much problems she will cause for Lopez. For a card so heavily reliant on influencers, her online presence isn't particularly strong, so we can't tell just how good she looks at fighting.

Young Cassius vs King Bod

Professional boxer Abdul Rasheed Balouch goes by the nickname 'Young Cassius'. He's stopped his three professional opponents, although they were all debuting, so the level is difficult to get a read on immediately.

King Bod appears to be much less experienced, although finding footage of his boxing is quite difficult even at the Wicked 'n' Bad level. On paper, the Pakistani fighter should get the victory here.

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