Down The Tube

Boxing invites imposters KSI and Logan Paul to do their worst, writes Elliot Worsell

- Elliot Worsell

TWO famous people want to have a boxing match and boxing, rather than show them the door, the rulebook or the back of its hand, will once again spread its legs, roll out the red carpet and allow them to do their worst at the Staples Center, Los Angeles, on November 9.

Two years after Floyd Mayweather and Conor McGregor took us for an expensive ride in Las Vegas, YouTube stars KSI and Logan Paul are set for a professional boxing match and there’s nothing you, I or anybody else can do to stop it.

Paul, according to Wikipedia, which is as far as my research will stretch, is “an American internet personality, actor, director and musician. He first gained fame through videos shared on former internet video service Vine, later moving to Facebook and YouTube after the platform’s shutdown.” KSI, meanwhile, can be summed up as follows: “Olajide William ‘JJ’ Olatunji, better known as KSI, a shortened version of his online alias KSIOlajideBT, is a British YouTuber, internet personality, actor, rapper and professional boxer.”

KSI, 26, and Paul, 24, have history, by the way. In August 2018, they squared off in a ludicrous and lucrative white-collar bout, which, because it ended in a draw, opened the door to an equally ludicrous and lucrative rematch. That is just one of the reasons why boxing now lingers beside them like an old pervert but the primary one is this: 20.4 million YouTube subscribers for KSI and 19.7 million for Logan Paul; 16.3 million Instagram followers for Paul and 6.5 million for KSI; 5 million Twitter followers apiece.

They are popular and successful, then, the numbers don’t lie. Yet to offer the pair’s move into pro boxing as proof the sport is thriving is to say journalism currently thrives because lots of people are writing tweets and sharing news on Facebook. It’s an illusion, nothing more.