YouTuber and boxer KSI won by KO against businessman and professional boxer Joe Fournier on Saturday 13th for the MF cruiserweight title in Wembley.
The fight was just one of many influencer clashes to have taken place over the last year.
“Boxing has seen a rise in its popularity and a lot of younger fans are watching it because of YouTubers,” said Ahmed, a boxer from Manchester.
KSI started the fight strong, landing several shots on Fournier and comfortably winning the opening round.
The second round saw Fournier come back with strikes of his own, however this was cut short with the strike of an elbow from KSI.
The illegal shot sent Fournier crashing down to the canvas and the fight was stopped in due course.
The referee did not see the incident and KSI was announced as the winner.
Fournier accused KSI of cheating say that “he hit me with a clean elbow”, “I’ve never been cheated like that in my life”.
In the post-fight interview, KSI was asked about his knockout punch with the possibility of it being an illegal elbow, he strongly denied the claims and said he got him with a clean shot.
Shortly after, he invited Tommy Fury into the ring and the pair had a face off.
KSI told Fury that he wanted “to do what Jake Paul couldn’t and knock you out”.
He then said, “I’m hungry, I need it.” Fury then pushed KSI before they were separated with struggle by security.
Verbally they have agreed to fight, and the foundations have been laid for another influencer clash.
Fury has said that if the two do lock gloves in the future, then he’d get stopped “very early.”
Following the influencer boxing fights, is muted respect amongst professional groups within the industry.
https://www.worldboxingnews.net/ say that “the acting and pre-construed scenes have no place in the sport.”
Following the fight, KSI has come forward and said that his win over Fournier is now “tarnished” due to the elbow.
Ahmed voiced his opinion on the influencer boxing scene. “I think its good and bad at the same time.”
“However, it’s also taking the shine away from pro boxing but then again they aren’t putting any good fights on, so they need a fight calendar like the UFC to thrive again.”