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Evening Standard
Evening Standard
Sport
Jonathan Gorrie

KSI eyes huge Jake Paul fight as ‘main goal’ after double knockout victory inside London’s O2 Arena

KSI marked his return to the boxing ring with a double KO victory over Swarmz and Luis Alcaraz Pineda.

The internet celebrity had not fought since outpointing Logan Paul over a thousand days ago and marked his comeback with two routine wins inside London’s O2 Arena.

Rapper Swarmz was the first to fall, doing so in the second round after an evasive first. While many will point to the uncompetitive nature of the bout, the 25-year-old’s corner were keen to stress Swarmz had only two weeks to prepare for the fight, having never laced up a pair of gloves before.

Beating Pineda, however, was supposed to add a level of authenticity. The Mexican is a professional fighter with two wins to his name after all, though proved little match for KSI and rarely looked interested before being stopped in the third and final round.

As was expected, attention then turned on what’s to come. While Jake Paul was described by KSI himself as the “main goal”, the idea of meeting Tommy Fury was raised a more imminent prospect.

An entertaining night at the 02, with all-but one of the fights ending in a knockout. KSI’s brother Deji claimed his first win by beating Fousey, while King Kenny’s controversial win over FaZe Sensei came after an interesting war on the inside.

Influencer boxing might have its critics – KSI’s two fights being the prime examples - and they are hard to ignore, although it is equally difficult to write off the intrigue.

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