Weighing In: KSI v Logan Paul
It feels surreal to think that by the end of this week, the world will have seen the biggest
internet event in history and to an even further extent – who really rules supreme on the
YouTube platform.
Yes, we are less than a week away from watching KSI, the self-proclaimed reigning ‘YouTube
Boxing Champion’ take on America’s biggest online personality Logan Paul, in a six-round
slug match in front of 21,000 people inside Manchester Arena, as well as millions around the
world watching via pay-per-view worldwide. The younger brothers of the pair, Deji (known
as ‘comedyshortsgamer’ online) and Jake Paul, will be fighting on the undercard of the
event, as well as FIVE other fights between martial artists, other YouTubers and Olympic
athletes.
For those not really in the know as to who these guys actually are – let me give you a small
breakdown:
KSI, or JJ Olatunji, is a British Youtuber, rapper, and gamer with a YouTube Channel
spanning as far back as 2009. In the eight and a half years since his channel was launched,
he now has 19,249,920 subscribers – making him the second most subscribed YouTuber in
the UK. Alongside his channel, JJ has released 3 EPs and seven individual singles as a music
artist. He came into the boxing scene when he fought fellow YouTuber Joe Weller at the
Copperbox Arena in London. 8,000 people watched the fight in the arena and more than
21,000,000 people watched it online – making it the biggest YouTube event to date. KSI
defeated Weller in the third round by way of T.K.O, and claiming the YouTube Boxing
Championship Belt. After the fight was decided and the celebrations were over, KSI called
out Jake and Logan Paul, for his next fight….
Logan Paul is an American actor, former wrestler and internet celebrity, launching his first
YT channel in 2013. It currently has 4.9 million subscribers, however, after he launched a
new daily vlogging channel in 2015, it’s safe to say he blew up. The vlogging channel
currently has 18,103,952 subscribers making him the biggest YT content creator in the US.
Logan first found fame however, on the video sharing platform Vine, a now defunct
platform. He has featured in TV series such as Law and Order: Special Victims Unit and
Weird Loners. He was due to make a cameo in the 2017 film Baywatch, but didn’t make the
final cut. More recently, he was caught up in worldwide criticism from one of his vlogs in
Japan where he filmed the body of a suicide victim in the Aokigahara Forest. Logan has since
sincerely apologised for the incident but many still berate him for it.
The younger siblings of the two, Deji and Jake, aren’t doing too badly themselves.
Deji’s channel, launched in 2011, currently has 9.4m subscribers. Jake Paul, who rose to fame from posting videos on Vine, and featuring on the Disney Channel series Bizaardvark, currently has 16.4m subcribers on YouTube. The pair have been clashing since KSI called Jake out originally but Jake refused. Deji describes is as having to ‘step in’ and fight Jake himself.
Now – I’m going to be at the arena and I’m a bag of nerves, but also incredibly excited. A lot
of my elders have described me buying tickets for this battle royale as a ‘gimmick’ and a
‘waste of money’ – little do they know that history will be made that night. Online history,
yes, but history nonetheless. History that will be all over mainstream media the morning
after.
To round off this little pre-fight blog, I’m going to give you my predictions on the fights
between Deji and Jake, and of course, KSI vs Logan.
DEJI VS JAKE PAUL:
The videos that we have seen of Deji training will instill worry into his fans. In a sparring
video with his brother, he took one punch to the body and doubled over. Jake has picked up
on this and has belittled Deji for it in the press conferences and a ‘face-2-face’ video that the
pair featured in for promotion of the fight.
I hope this is a deliberate tactic by Deji and off-camera, he is training harder than anyone is
actually giving him credit for. Jake Paul was, like his brother, a wrestler once so has the
experience boost that Deji probably could have done with before challenging anyone to a
boxing match. Jake hasn’t given much away in terms of his training but mentally had been
toying with Deji since this whole thing started. I think this fight will be lengthier than the
main event, and won’t end in anyone being knocked out.
TOM PREDICTS: DEJI TO WIN IN THE FIFTH ROUND BY T.K.O (Referees Decision)
KSI V LOGAN PAUL
The big one. Now, people who know me know I am a huge fan of KSI and have followed him
online since the beginnings of his career as a YouTuber. However, this doesn’t mean that I
am dismissing Logan’s chances of winning. He’s taller than JJ, probably has a good reach,
and was in decent shape before the need for intense training kicked in. We know he used to
wrestle so he knows what it takes to win – but can he develop that ability and mind-set to
cover his boxing skill aswell as his wrestling ability?
KSI’s confidence is admirable but abnormal – I genuinely think he believes he cannot lose
this fight. He has used this confidence so well to get into Logan’s head. So much so, that he
made Logan walk off the stage in tears at the UK Press Conference, has released a
documentary of his journey as a boxer named ‘KSI: Can’t Lose’ and, just a few days ago,
dropped a diss track on Logan that has amassed over 8 million views in under 24 hours.
This fight will be a quite to the point: Both boxers will fly out of their out of their corners
looking for that KO. Mentally, I think KSI has done enough to get that edge but equally, we
haven’t seen barely any of Logan’s training. It’ll be closer than people think.
TOM PREDICTS: KSI TO WIN BY KO IN THE THIRD ROUND
Who do you think will win? Let me know! Tweet me @Tom_Levins or feel free to leave a
comment down below and share your thoughts.
I’ll be writing another post about the result of the event!
NOTE: Figures and Statistics were correct at the time of writing.
