Luis Pineda was battling extreme nerves before making his ring walk to fight KSI at the YouTuber's 'two fights in one night' event.
KSI made his boxing return in August after nearly a three-year absence by beating rapper Swarmz and Pineda on the same night. Much was made of Pineda, who stepped into the ring with a record of two wins and five defeats, in addition to an experienced amateur background. Pineda and Swarmz both stepped up on short notice after KSI's original opponent Alex Wassabi withdrew from the fight.
YouTube boxer FaZe Sensei, who lost a controversial decision to King Kenny at the event, has now revealed the enormity of the event caught up with Pineda before his ring walk. The Mexican fighter was overwhelmed by the 18,000 fans in attendance at The O2 arena and his manager had to be hunted down to make sure he was still making the walk.
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"We know he [KSI] is going to walk through Swarmz and then he's going to get this test," Sensei said on The Breakdown. "I was backstage before Pineda was supposed to come out and he wouldn't come out, there was a bit of delay. The guy who was his manager was like 'he's coming, we'll get him' and then he said that he's really nervous as it's his first big show
"Then he comes out with the mask on and he has this walk to him like he does not want to go out there. It reminded me of when you're trick or treating with a kid and they're scared to walk up to the house because it's got scary stuff on it. You could see the demeanour through his face even though he had the mask on."
KSI knocked down Pineda seven times before eventually stopping him in the third round of the fight, which didn't go on either of their records as it was an exhibition. Pineda has since competed in two professional bouts in Mexico, being stopped on both occasions.
In his first fight of 2023, KSI is set to take on Conor McGregor's teammate Dillon Danis on January 14. Danis is unhappy with a rehydration clause in his contract and KSI recently hit out at the Bellator MMA fighter by tweeting to him: "You don’t have what it takes to get in the ring with me. You ain’t a fighter. You’re a confused t***. You’re a waste of time. Your career is a failure. You’re nothing."
