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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
Sport
Donagh Corby

YouTube star Kristen Hanby laughs off Vitaly's "one-minute KO" prediction for boxing debut

Kristen Hanby has laughed off rival Vitaly Zdorovetskiy's prediction of a first-minute knockout in their fight on Saturday night.

The YouTube pranksters will trade their video cameras for boxing gloves at the OVO Arena Wembley this weekend when they make their boxing debuts, and Hanby will be looking to overcome a substantial size difference to get the best of the Russian.

Zdorovetskiy told Mirror Fighting in the lead-up to the fight that he was planning to stop the Brit within not just within the first round, but the opening 60 seconds.

And Hanby has responded by saying that not only is that unlikely to happen, but that he is plotting a stoppage of his own when the pair finally meet in the ring.

"He's a dozy idiot," Hanby joked during a chat with Mirror Fighting . "I saw a clip of him sparring the other day and I couldn't stop laughing.

Kristen Hanby makes his boxing debut on Saturday night (INSTAGRAM@https://www.instagram.com/kristenhanby/)
He faces Russian YouTuber Vitaly (INSTAGRAM@https://www.instagram.com/vitalythegoat/)

"I screen recorded it and I've watched it back 30 times, he's pathetic - he's talking all this stuff but he's getting slept!

"I don't know where he's getting this 60 seconds from, I don't know what he's been taking, he's not going to even land a clean punch on me.

"I'm going to stop him, I can see it now the referee is going to jump in and be saying 'he's had enough, he's had enough, he can't breathe!'

"He's going to need the referee to get me off him."

The pair were once friends, but after Vitaly offered Hanby a chance to fight at the storied Wembley Arena, the Brit felt there was no way he could turn down the offer.

They're both known for their wacky antics on social media, but they are taking boxing very seriously ahead of their debuts, and plan to take further fights after Saturday.

"I've wanted to box for a while after seeing all these YouTube cards," Hanby added. "I thought it was one of those things that was going to pass.

"This card was coming up and I literally was given the opportunity and I said 'this is the one, I'm doing it'.

"I spoke to Vitaly about it, he was saying that people are going to be saying he only won because of the size difference.

"I said 'look, I'll fight him at any weight,' and literally since then I've just been at it going crazy."

Are you excited for the Kristen Hanby and Vitaly fight? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below!

And while many fighters on the card have lost huge amounts of weight and taken up particular diets, Hanby insists he's gone the other way.

He claims he's going to be sporting a "dad bod" when he weighs in for the bout on Friday evening, having gained a large amount of weight to be able to tip the scales around the same as massive weight lifter Vitaly.

"My diet's been crazy, I've been having takeaways every night," Hanby said. "Everyone I talk to has had a crazy strict diet, mine's the opposite.

"I'm training hard and eating good, eating yellow Thai curries and I have a chocolate addiction where I eat an easter egg every night it's crazy.

"I'm feeling powerful, the strongest I've ever felt so we're good.

"I'm going for a dad bod like Tyson Fury, my coach keeps saying that because he's going to be in good shape it's going to be AJ-Fury vibes and obviously Fury would win that.

"I don't think he can lose that sort of weight, he's going to be a lot heavier than me but that won't do anything for him."

Tickets are on sale now at showstarboxing.com and via AXS for Showstar Boxing 2022, which will be headlined by Deji vs Alex Wassabi.

If you're outside of the UK, you can watch the fight on PPV via the Showstar website for £6.99.

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