YouTube star Brandon Buckingham was just a matter of weeks away from making his boxing debut when he was admitted to a psych ward after a slew of negative comments.
The social media sensation had been engaged in a bitter feud with now-banned comedian Nico Kenn De Balinthazy, better known by his stage name Sneako, when he found himself overwhelmed by responses to his content. And despite being deep into a training camp for his first fight, he opted to admit himself to a psychiatric hospital to deal with his mental health issues.
Buckingham spent a number of days on the ward before re-emerging with a new look and returning to training at Big Six Boxing in Providence, Rhode Island under the guidance of 2004 Olympian Jason Estrada. Despite a background in jiu-jitsu and wrestling, he has admitted to finding the transition to boxing difficult, but is confident he can land a victory in his first bout.
Standing in his way is another man who has had his battles with online communities; Twitch streamer Ice Poseidon. Once a superstar on the streaming platform, Paul Denino has had to rebuild his career following a series of controversies and has transformed his body for his boxing debut.
"I've been doing bad," Buckingham joked to Mirror Fighting amid a tough weight cut to make the 175lb limit for their fight. "It's been a bad couple of months. Maybe I'm the favourite on Saturday night, I'm cool, calm and collected - but you could never tell by my demeanour the type of hell that is going on inside my mind."
Buckingham, who will be cornered on Saturday night by the enigmatic comedian Sam Hyde, is known for his wacky documentary-style videos where he attends different events around the world. But he and Sneako's feud saw fans on both sides become aggressive in messages and comments, ultimately causing him to struggle with his mental health amid a strenuous period in his life.
Who do you think will win between Brandon Buckingham and Ice Poseidon? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below!
He's flanked by a team that includes musician Jet Neptune and filmmaker Sagan McFly in Austin this week, and will be joined by Hyde on fight night. Estrada is unavailable as he will be cornering heavyweight Sean Bey on the same night. He has had to cut considerable weight to make the limit for fight night; yet another issue that has plagued a difficult training camp.
"It f***ed everything up," Buckingham said of the effect of his hospital stint during camp. "They [my team] knew I was really stressed so they just wanted me to go and get my mind right. I was just not sleeping, looking at comments and stuff - not everyone gets to have hundreds of people haranguing them and saying terrible lies on the internet. I didn't handle it well but they're still doing it and I'm handling it better now."
Ultimately, Buckingham is keen to show viewers the importance of taking care of their mental health particular if they're spending a lot of time online. "Jokes aside, the internet is a f***ed up place," he added. "People say terrible s*** about you, make up terrible s*** and sensitive people like myself it can get to you. It got to me, I voluntarily went in for a week, got some help and voluntarily left.
"A lot of people would be ashamed of it, but I'm not ashamed of having mental health issues. I always want to be open and honest about it, I don't always have to be a 'cool guy'."
