Sep 10, 2018 Whilst the fight between KSI and Weller - KSI won, as it happens - was nowhere near as hyped up and as drawn out in terms of promotion, it still took place in front of a large crowd, with plenty. KSI vs Joe Weller - Winner KSI -250 Logan Paul +170. Odds on KSI vs Joe Weller Boxing Matchup according to BetOnline Sportsbook. January 27, 2018. Novelty - Boxing KSI vs Joe Weller - Winner KSI -135 Joe Weller +105. Bet on KSI vs Joe Weller Boxing Matchup Odds at BetOnline Sportsbook. Jan 25, 2018 KSI and Joe Weller will finally settle their differences on Saturday 3 February when they touch gloves at the Olympic Park, London. 'KSI' Olatunji and Weller have a combined total of 21.6 million.
YouTube stars KSI and Joe Weller will slug it out tonight in an amateur boxing contest in a bid to settle their Twitter beef. Weller is no stranger to the ring having beaten fellow internet sensation Theo ‘Malfoy’ Baker last August. KSI responded by challenging the winner. May 28, 2018 Odds on KSI vs Joe Weller Boxing Matchup according to BetOnline Sportsbook. Novelty - Boxing KSI vs Joe Weller - Winner KSI -250 Joe Weller +170 Bet on KSI vs Joe Weller Boxing Matchup Odds at BetOnline Sportsbook.
Well, I’m getting that feeling again. It’s that strange mixture of excitement, shame over said excitement, and general nausea that this is what we’ve come to as a people. I remember this emotion from the early-2000’s when Celebrity Boxing burst onto the scene, and we saw Screech mercilessly pummel Horshack.
On August 25th, perhaps we’ll long for the days that sleazy old Fox Studios let Joey Buttafucco fight female WWE wrestler Chyna. Because, back then at least the combatants were household names on some level, albeit washed up, desperate, old “names.” But this time, we won’t be watching our favorite downtrodden characters from yesteryear. This time we’re watching a couple of YouTubers participate in something called White Collar Boxing.
When KSI fought another YouTube person named Joe Weller, the contest drew more than 20 million views. Another eight thousand attended live, paying $92 per seat. That’s a gate of $736,000 which is just patently absurd. The majority of legitimate, talented boxers can’t bring in viewership numbers like that, which is just about as depressing as it gets for a fight fan.
Despite my general pessimism around things of this nature, I’m trying to immerse myself in this clown show to the best of my ability. Since hearing about this feud, I’ve read no fewer than 15 articles about the two characters involved and watched a dozen-or-so videos.
This would apparently put me in the KSI camp, but I’m not sold on him either. I’m team “double knockout” all the way thus far. But my mind could easily be changed over the course of this article.
As I mentioned previously, this contest will be taking place between two immensely popular YouTube personalities, Logan Paul and KSI. Both men are in their mid-twenties, which makes perfect sense to anyone who’s ever been a 24-year-old young man before; this is precisely the kind of ego-driven nonsense you get yourself into at that age. They also appear to be in prime physical shape, which could make things interesting, although I feel I should know better.
KSI is a British YouTube personality that runs the channel “KSIOlajidebt.” On YouTube, he has over 18.6 million subscribers and has been viewed over 4-billion times. His is the 36th most subscribed channel on all of YouTube, making this 24-year-old kid a major player in the world of content creation and overnight celebrity.
Logan Paul won’t be the first YouTube rival that KSI has met in the ring. Previously, he fought Joe Weller in another White Collar Boxing promoted bout. That fight was over some perceived slights concerning the video game “FIFA” and a group of gaming creators.
Weller was clearly tentative from the start and attempting a peek-a-boo style that was well beyond his skill level, but he wasn’t a total pushover. Even so, KSI dispatched of his nemesis in the third of six rounds. Olatunji was in excellent shape, and while clearly an amateur, he was able to find a home for his flicking jab for much of the fight, and put the bout away with swarming, wild hooks.
In reality, his attacks were quite sloppy, but that shouldn’t matter too much on August 25th. While his hands down, flailing style would make him quick work against experienced opponents, it’s doubtful that any of these YouTube kids will be able to make him pay too much. Although, I will say that Weller was landing some nice counter hooks early in their match. If he had more power, KSI would have paid for constantly keeping his hands down and not moving his head after his punches.
When it comes to subscriber numbers and overall views, there isn’t much separating Paul and KSI. They both command an enormous amount of attention, which will probably result in this fight breaking some kind of viewership records. Two untrained kids just flailing away in front of legions of millennials for what will most likely be millions of dollars; ain’t life grand?
After watching the video in which the two men talked trash, stared each other down, and signed contracts, I came away feeling like Logan had a shot. He is apparently the taller, larger man, and he appears to be training and in great shape. Where he loses me is the shape of his head, and particularly his chin. The guy has an uncanny resemblance to Glass Joe from Mike Tysons Punch-Out.
Glass Joe was the very first opponent in the greatest boxing video game ever created, way back on the original Nintendo system. He was uncoordinated, impossibly slow, and would get knocked out when the breeze blew too hard. So, as you can imagine, this is not an inspiring comparison. But the fact is, Paul does have that goofy, moon-man chin that’s going to be a massive disadvantage once KSI finds a home for that jab.
Note:Perhaps the most critical angle in this showdown is Logan’s redemption.
He’s been persona non grata since he filmed in the Japanese forest known for being a place troubled people go to commit suicide. While shooting his adventures, he included the corpse of a poor soul who had recently deceased. The internet blowback was immediate and intense.
It’s possible that the best thing that could happen to Logan Paul is that he takes a devastating beating in front of the world. Think of it as atoning for his sins. If he refuses to quit and ends the sixth battered and bloodied, maybe, just maybe, people will begin to move on from his astronomical misstep. Although, a shocking win could potentially have the same effect.
Gosh, I haven’t a clue. At some point, people became obsessed with being a celebrity rather than being skillful in a particular field that would then make you famous. It became a race to the bottom, with each generation willing to stoop a little lower for attention. There was Paris Hilton’s green-lit video that changed the world, then Kim Kardashian’s that launched an empire; we’ve been headed down this road for quite some time.
Finally, we’ve arrived at the point at which YouTube personalities are boxing each other in front of audiences of 20 million people. A kid who’s most famous for tastlessly filming a person who hung themselves, is doing battle with the Brit who got himself banned from the Eurogamer Expo for sexual harassment.
Oh, was that not what you were really asking about?
Gleason’s Gym in New York City is one of the most famous boxing gyms in the entire world. Formerly the home gym of top-shelf prize fighters such as Jake LaMotta, Roberto Duran, Gerry Cooney, and Mike Tyson, in the 1980s the iconic training grounds began to get yuppified. By 2004, over 65% of Gleason’s gym memberships were held by patrons from a white-collar background.
He’d promote white collar fights between similarly-skilled amateur types who wanted to get in the ring and test their skill. He went so far as to create an actual sanctioned promotion. KSI’s last bout was promoted by White Collar Boxing, and the presentation was no different than a main event title fight between real athletes.
Ohhhhh, okay, so you want the dirt. Unfortunately, the origin story for this contest is relatively lame.
Note:In fact, the only way this makes any sense at all to me is if they’ve organized this whole thing for publicity.
If this KSI kid figured out that holding fights between personalities with massive followings would be a license to print money, then good for him, I’m all for it. But, watching these two guys interact, there’s something douchier afoot.
It honestly appears to be two kids whose egos have completely exploded thanks to all of their internet attention, jockeying to be the cool guy. Immediately following KSI’s last fight, he called out both Paul brothers. The younger Paul responded in a condescending, dismissive way, the two sides went back and forth making videos about each other, and eventually, contracts were signed, and promises were made. Now we’re all just waiting until August 25th.
With roughly seven more weeks before the big brawl, the sportsbooks have KSI as a -250 favorite, no doubt impressed with his last performance. That means, for every $250 you bet on KSI, you’ll win $100 if he is victorious on fight night. According to the implied probability, the bookmakers are giving the young Brit a 71.43% chance of winning the bout.
If you’re more fond of betting underdogs, Logan Paul at +170 may look like some decent value. He is the larger of the two men, and he’s one year older. After seeing the shots KSI was eating the last match against a bewildered opponent, there is an opportunity here for Paul to land the knockout blow.
Note:But, if you’ve watched enough of these contests between amateurs you know not to get your hopes up. Beginners almost never knock each other out, it’s too hard to do, and they get tired too quickly.
Logan’s +170 odds suggest the oddsmakers don’t have much faith in the obnoxious blonde. The implied probability of Logan Paul winning is 37.04%. They must have seen the Glass Joe resemblance too. It’s just impossible to picture him winning a fight with that chin. But that doesn’t mean he won’t!
The most surprising thing about KSI’s last fight was how watchable it actually was. They weren’t the most skilled combatants, but they kept the action up and really swung for the fences. I believe that bout is what has everyone so optimistic about this one. But I’m not falling for it.
It’s true; there are ways Logan Paul could play this which would probably result in a certain level of forgiveness for his prior transgressions.
Recommended Reading:The right performance, whether that’s getting pummeled or scoring an upset win, could quickly put him back on the road to redemption in the public eye. But, I don’t think he has it in him. He looks cowardly, even though getting in the ring in front of millions does take a decent amount of courage.
I see this fight turning into a long, tedious, mess. Paul’s length and height advantage will allow him to keep KSI off him, avoiding those wild swarms that overwhelmed Joe Weller. Logan won’t land much of his own, besides clunky little shots when JJ is diving in or retreating. By the second round, they will mostly be hugging and tangling up, much to KSI’s frustration.
By the sixth round both men will be so gassed, they’ll barely be able to stand. The last three minutes should look like Bambi on Ice. In the end, the two kids will be friends, relishing in all the money they just made together. The rest of us will be frustrated and angry about the money we just flushed down the toilet. It will be that familiar regret that anyone who’s ordered a Floyd Mayweather fight in the last several years has gone through. “I knew better, of course, it turned out this way.”
People hate Logan Paul; no judge is going to look at that disturbing face and give him any rounds. He’s so angular and strange; his weird face bones will most likely bruise and cut easily, making him look even worse for wear. A decision loss will give him just the out he needs to save his ego, say he was robbed, and make absolutely no progress in his post-suicide-picture public relations recovery.
On August 25th, two young men are going to put their reputations and fragile egos on the line to settle a dispute once and for all. After multiple back and forth trash talking videos and some contentious contract negotiations, the bout is finally signed and scheduled to take place. The two famous YouTube personalities stand to make a small fortune with this stunt; it’s honestly everything that is wrong and awesome with the world at the same time.
KSI’s devastating one-sided drubbing of another YouTuber is fresh in everyone’s mind, including the bookies who have him as the heavy favorite. Feeling invincible after dispatching a terrified Joe Weller, Olajide is loving this boxing stuff, and looking to parlay another light workday into six or seven figures. Choosing a polarizing figure like Paul to call out, the British videogamer has undoubtedly shown a penchant for promotion if nothing else.
Let’s just hope that he’s able to deliver again, or at the very least, the public gets some much-needed catharsis watching Logan Paul get beat up. Whatever the outcome, you have to hope he uses this opportunity to get some of that suicide stink off of him before it’s too late. When you’re universally reviled, sometimes lacing them up and getting in the ring is the best medicine, just ask Tonya Harding.