YouTube star King Kenny suffered a secret illness days out from his fight with Ashley Tebi from Rak-Su that may have played a part in costing him the bout.
The Beta Squad influencer was a heavy favourite before facing X-Factor winner Tebi, but struggled to let his hands go as he slumped to a split decision loss. He had previously been defeated by Faze Temperrr in March of last year by way of a controversial re-score, but his loss to the singer was his first time not to have his hand raised on the night in four fights.
And he has left no time to wallow in defeat, opting to step into the Kingpyn Boxing 'High Stakes' tournament, where he will fight three times on April 22, June 2 and August 5 in an effort to win the inaugural men's competition. He faces 'MyMateNate', an influencer known for his work in Thailand who has fought three times to date.
"I really don't like making excuses," Kenny insisted during an exclusive chat with Mirror Fighting , before confirming that he dealt with falling ill during camp. "I still lost on the night but I did get sick in camp for the Ashley fight and I think it just kind of affected me a bit, maybe that's indirectly why I wasn't throwing but I still felt fine on the night.
"So to be honest I think it was a mental thing, I don't really want to blame me being sick. With DK Money [his previous bout, which he won by knockout in the first round] I had a great camp, felt fresh and I was ready to rock and roll, that was the only big difference. But I don't want to make that a big thing because I could have still won that night, I just didn't throw enough."
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Kenny, who trains under his brother Daley Perales, was criticised heavily for his lack of output against Tebi, whose unorthodox style made him a problem to deal with. The Rak-Su singer has been boxing for around a year-and-a-half, last getting out in a tough loss to veteran MMA fighter and Jake Paul teammate Anthony Taylor.
But the YouTuber has shared sparring footage that indicates he will be much more active against MyMateNate, who has yet to fight in 10oz gloves with three-minute rounds. "I'm throwing more punches with more volume but also with intelligence," he added. "I do think it's going to be a great fight.
"MyMateNate is not s***, he's a good technical fighter. A lot of people just look at him all smily and bubbly and think I'll just run through him but he can fight. However, he hasn't fought anyone good, and it's a different game fighting in them 10oz gloves as well so he's going to be in for a bit of a shock."
Tickets are on sale NOW for the Kingpyn High Stakes tournament first round at the OVO Arena Wembley. Starting at £39, they can be purchased from AXS.
