After knocking out Joe Weller in third round of the first Youtuber boxing match, KSI, a long-time Youtube sensation, challenged either Jake Paul or Logan Paul to box him for the belt. KSI — otherwise known as Olajide Olatunji, or JJ — currently has 18 million subscribers on his Youtube channel, and the videos he posts range from Fifa videos to comedic sketches to daily vlogs. His platform has allowed for him to branch out to create his own music, and as a part of the Youtube group known as the Sidemen, he has hosted two charity soccer matches, started his own clothing line, and is one of seven members that run the Sidemen channel — the fastest Youtube channel to reach 1,000,000 subscribers.
In response to the call-out, Jake Paul and Logan Paul dared KSI to fight their father as KSI said, “Any of the Pauls, I don’t care.” This spurred a series of insults back and forth, in which it seemed that neither Paul was interested in accepting KSI’s offer. KSI’s brother, ComedyShortsGamer — known as Deji, was pulled into the mix, and even met up with Jake Paul while he was in Los Angeles. This resulted into a face-to-face confrontation; Deji questioned why Jake Paul hadn’t accepted KSI’s challenge, and Jake Paul dared Deji to fight then and there in the park.
KSI’s fans felt disappointed. It appeared that the fight they were craving wasn’t happening. The rest of the Sidemen even agreed that the odds of it happening didn’t look likely. It got to the point where KSI made a video declaring that he didn’t intend on fighting either of the Paul brothers, as they wouldn’t agree on terms, and created a poll for other Youtubers who had called him out in the aftermath of his win to gain a chance to spar with him in the ring.
But while KSI was considering other options, there was more going on behind the scenes than his audience anticipated. Logan Paul’s team was still interested in discussing terms, and in one of his vlogs, Logan Paul revealed that he intended on accepting KSI’s challenge.
This sparked a series of responses: Deji challenged Jake Paul to a fight on the undercard of the main fight. Jake accepted the offer. One of the other members of the Sidemen wanted in on the action as well. Ethan Payne — also known as Behzinga on Youtube — challenged one of the members of Jake Paul’s Team 10 group to fight. This man is Nick Crompton, and he gave Ethan a quick response: yes.
In preparation for the fight, Logan Paul has begun training at the Mayweather Gym. During a trip to Las Vegas, KSI also visited the Mayweather Gym, and he was trained personally for two to three days under Floyd Mayweather Sr. During KSI’s time in Las Vegas, the contract had yet to be finalized. The only indication that the fight was happening was through spoken word.
But Logan Paul showed up to the gym, knowing that KSI was there in person, and he urged KSI to make the fight 50-50 so that the profits would be shared equally between them. KSI agreed to this in person, but also told Logan Paul that the reason the fight had yet to be confirmed was because the Paul’s team could not agree on terms.
Later on, Logan Paul posted a picture on Twitter of the contract with many passages scribbled out, implying that KSI would receive 100% of the profit gained from the fight. In response, KSI posted the full contract on Twitter, which clearly stated that KSI gained all the profit from the fight in England, but Logan Paul would gain all the profit from a second fight in America.
However, it seemed like both of their teams finally agreed, as the contract was signed earlier this week. On August 26th, two Youtube sensations will go against each other in the ring. KSI believes that he is doing the world a favor in knocking Logan Paul out. But we’ll find out what the outcome is when the summer arrives.
As for the Jake Paul vs. Deji fight, it has yet to be confirmed. Both men appear to be training, as seen in training montages on their channels, but no contract has been signed as of yet.