KSI vs Logan Paul: What to expect from the most controversial fight of the year

KSI and Logan Paul battle in a rematch eagerly anticipated by millions of fans globally, though a much lesser number within the world of boxing

The most controversial fight of the year takes place this weekend in Los Angeles with YouTubers KSI and Logan Paul battling each other in a rematch eagerly anticipated by their millions of fans across the globe, though rather less so by many within boxing.

Let’s start with the obvious – both KSI and Logan Paul present themselves as annoying and they’re both very good at portraying that role. It’s part of the warped charm that has earned them a legion of teenage fans, their knowing immaturity aligns with the demographic they’ve successfully wooed over the years.

By day, they are YouTube pranksters, playing video games, making diss tracks and laughing at dead bodies in Japanese forests, but like all good YouTubers, they’re both driven to shake off the internet tag and become bonafide mainstream celebrities.

It’s a tactic that has worked, for the most part. Of all the many micro and major YouTube influencers, KSI and Logan Paul are the A-Listers, and their ascent into worldwide stardom began with a hugely successful boxing match last year in Manchester.

The fight was fought under amateur rules with headguards and vests on, and was akin to an elaborate celebrity boxing bout, the sort of which saw Ricky Gervais fight Grant Bovey in the biggest screwjob since Montreal 1997.

Streamed live on YouTube, the fight generated millions of viewers, and while the actual boxing was as basic as Rich Tea biscuits, the drama was Pinteresque, with the two protagonists creating sensational buzz in the build-up.

Neither man officially won, with a majority draw the overall decision, setting up the rematch perfectly. This time around, the pre-fight antics have been raised, helped by the promotion of Eddie Hearn and Sky Sports who have been giving the bout even more publicity than they would of an Anthony Joshua fight.

This is not going to be a punch-perfect pugilistic paradise for the purists. Both guys would get knocked out over six rounds by the most basic of journeymen, but this doesn’t exist for sporting prowess. Instead, this circus has been created to entice memelords and sportswear casuals alike, and whether you like it or not, it’s working.

This is big time, and it’s exactly why boxing exists and booms. Sure, some within the sport, have criticised the promotion, with many boxers complaining that KSI and Logan Paul do not deserve the hype given their limited boxing experience. Yet while the athletic pedigree of both KSI and Paul is negligible, the very same fighters bemoaning this event have major social media presences.

Should people not watch the YouTube videos, Twitter videos or Instagram Stories of the generic boxer if they’re not professional Vloggers and social media specialists? Or, as with this fight, should every single person be given the choice to get excited and interested in whatever they want?

Boxing, at its core, is prizefighting. Literally, fighting for prizes, with the ideal prize usually a lot of money. The more meaning in a fight, the more interest. The more interest, the more excitement. And the more excitement? The more revenue for the fighters, which is exactly the purpose of the sport to begin with.

Sure, you may get masochists who are in this game purely to be punched in the face, but the majority of professional boxers just want to get paid. Of course there’s craft, but fundamentally it’s two people trying to hit each other in the face and ribs. The thud of fists on chin, the smack of a body shot, it’s real, it’s physical.

Without meaning, it’s uncomfortable. There are hundreds of professional fights every weekend, and if we’re lucky, perhaps a dozen will have a purpose, an interesting backstory, or something substantial to lock on to. The majority of fights just drift by, four rounds of two unknowns punching in front of no audience, left to rot as a Boxrec statistic for the future.

KSI vs Logan Paul is what more fights should be – two guys who have made the effort to promote themselves and earn money out of it. You only have to look at the startling amount of deaths in boxing this year to remind yourself of the danger. Why go through it without people caring or not having the potential to earn big?

YouTubers or not, this is a message to all combat sport athletes to establish a personality as well as a punch.

KSI and Logan Paul face off onstage while promoter Eddie Hearn looks on (Victor Decolongon/Getty Images)

Perhaps the biggest issue with the fight is that people are unhappy with the lack of experience of both men inside a boxing ring. KSI and Logan Paul have a combined total of three amateur fights, but plenty of top-level experience in intensity. YouTube teaches people to deal with pressure and to concoct the thickest of skins.

The pressure in dealing with negative comments, death threats or typos in YouTube titles – they’re dehabiliating. A left hook is nowhere near as bad as the wrong endboard on a YouTube video, so it’s fair to say the boxers will be able to ignore the haters and count their money afterwards.

It’s weird, nobody bats an eye when Steve from Reading trains for six weeks to fight a recruitment consultant in a white collar bout, so why the beef here? Because they’re YouTubers and actually earning from it? Or because even in 2019, people still don’t understand the basics of publicity.

Sure, a cynic might not want their children to sit on YouTube all day watching guys in their twenties play FIFA and pull each others shorts down, but ten-year-olds in the 1950s were obsessed with hopscotch as 90s kids were with Saturday morning cartoons, and let’s be honest, they hardly grew up to be the greatest minds of their generation did they?

A tenner can buy you a lot of things, about 30 packets of Space Raiders, a nice winter scarf from Primark or three copies of Chris Jericho’s first autobiography.

On Saturday night, if you’re lucky, £10 spent on Sky Sports Box Office might let you see the YouTuber you dislike most out of KSI and Logan Paul get knocked out.

Just think of the memes.