YouTube star King Kenny's brother and coach Daley Perales admits that his primary emotion was "relief" after watching his sibling take a narrow and controversial points win on Saturday night.
The Brit lost his boxing debut in wildly unorthodox circumstances back in March when, after being given a win by decision, the scorecards were later changed in an unprecedented "re-score" and his opponent Thomas 'Faze Temperrr' Oliveira was handed the victory. And there was controversy again on Saturday night when he faced Temperrr's coach Isiah 'Faze Sensei' Ocasio.
Fans were stunned when Kenny was given the decision at The O2 arena in London after a hard-fought four round fight against combat sports veteran Sensei. However, the pair ultimately shook hands and agreed that the result was fair, even filming a YouTube video together the following afternoon.
Speaking on the night with Mirror Fighting Kenny's coach Perales, a former unbeaten professional and the YouTuber's older sibling, admitted that he couldn't believe it when the scorecards were read out. "When it's a close fight you don't know which way it's going to go," he explained.
"From my point of view, from the moment he got rocked he composed himself and dominated behind the jab, it was perfect. It was just relief, man, because for one he's my brother but two, he's my coach. So there are two emotions, I have to be professional even though he's my brother.
Perales was in the corner twice on Saturday night, first for Kenny before fan favourite Deji picked up his first victory after four attempts against Yusef 'Fousey' Erakat. Having coached both to defeats on March's Showstar Boxing card, he allowed neither man to make any mistake on Saturday and left with two wins.
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"Before, I only had three weeks to work with Deji," Perales explained. "With boxing you can't rush things, to learn the art you need time and that's what I said 'I need more time with him,' just to change the mentality. He was fit, strong, good jab. Now we party, party, party, take probably about a week off and then it's straight back in the gym. Kenny's got a belt to defend now!"
Kenny was crowned the Influencer Championship Boxing international cruiserweight champion with his win over Sensei. The world champion is his close pal and fellow Watford native KSI, so it's unlikely that they will ever square up in the ring for a unification.
Meanwhile, Deji appears to be set for another bout this year and is keen to face TikTok star Bryce Hall. KSI's Misfits Boxing promotion will make their American debut in November, which could be a perfect time for that bout to take place with the Brit now likely to be favourite after a dominant victory over Fousey on Saturday night.
