YouTube star KSI has admitted that his latest exchange with Jake Paul saw the American claim bragging rights between the pair.
The Brit, whose real name is JJ Olatunji, was supposed to fight Alex Wassabi on August 27 before his rival suffered a concussion that led him to pull out of their bout with just three weeks' notice. Paul rushed to step in and declare that he would be willing to take the short-notice bout, agreeing to all the terms that KSI publicly stated in the press.
He agreed to take the fight for free, make a gruelling weight cut and shared videos showing that he was out of camp after his own bout with Hasim Rahman Jr was called off over a weight issue. But it was never a feasible proposition, which meant KSI was forced to turn down the offer and instead take a fight with Swarmz.
Fans were outraged at the new fight, mocking the hastily-thrown-together poster and questioning the legitimacy of the bout, as the pair previously worked together on a Top 10 single. But KSI insists that despite Paul coming out on top in this exchange, he has already verbally agreed to a winner-takes-all fight with his rival at Wembley Stadium next year.
"He did catch a little W," KSI told Wade Plemons on his YouTube channel The WADE Concept. "But I came back and I was like 'let's make this f***ing happen next year'. Wembley Stadium, 2023, let's go.
"Then he was like 'I've got to say he's a better boxer', and I was like 'yeah, alright calm, whatever, you're a better boxer, let's f***ing go, then'. Once we get into that ring and I f*** you up, knock you clean out then what? Who's a better boxer now? D***head, but anyway."
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It has been a cursed summer for YouTube boxing, with fights between Jake Paul and both Tommy Fury and Hasim Rahman Jr falling to the wayside, as well as a postponement for Austin McBroom's battle with AnEsonGib. But KSI was insistent that his event, DAZN's debut pay-per-view offering in the UK, goes ahead as planned, no matter the opponent.
"For me it was all about making sure the event goes ahead," he continued. "I know Jake was trying so hard just to kill the event, but for me I was just there like 'bro, there's still other fighters here who are getting paid, working hard to get to the event to be able to put on a show'.
"So why would you want to ruin this, why would you want to destroy it? That was the only thing that he had in his mind. He didn't have his own event so he wanted to try and f*** up everyone else's so I was like 'alright, f*** you,' and had to make sure that this happens anyway and now we're in a place where the event is still happening, we still have good fights."
