KSI and Logan Paul will finally fight tonight as their eagerly-anticipated rematch takes place in Los Angeles – and both men are poised to make a pretty penny.
The two YouTubers are technically fighting for the ‘YouTube Championship Belt’ – a fetching red and gold strap initially handed to KSI by London heavyweight Dereck Chisora.
But there’s also a lot of money at stake, too.
Both men will earn a guaranteed $900k, per the Californian State Athletic Commission.
That’s only slightly less than Devin Haney, the WBC lightweight champion of the world, who fights Alfredo Santiago Alvarez on the undercard.
But it’s more than the British WBO super-middleweight champion Billy Joe Saunders will earn for his fight with the undefeated Marcelo Esteban Coceres. Saunders – an unbeaten world champion who has defeated the likes of Chris Eubank Jr, Andy Lee and David Lemieux – will make just $750k.
The first fight between KSI and Paul generated a cool $11m – although that doesn’t mean the two men divided the profits 50/50.
This fight is expected to make even more money, with both KSI and Logan Paul able to boost their profits through various sponsorship deals.
Hello and welcome to The Independent's coverage of KSI vs Logan Paul II.
The day has finally arrived! After two years of trash talking and an amateur bout, the two YouTubers finally cross over into the big time.
We'll have all the build up to the big one as well as live coverage of the event itself, so stay tuned.
We’re still quite a way from tonight’s show gets started, so have a little read on everything you need to know about it.
From the undercard to the main event.
Logan Paul has weighed in the much heavier man - but size and look doesn’t always matter, as we’ve seen a number of times in boxing over the year.
Check out the highlights from yesterday’s weigh in.
After a long and somewhat taxing fight week full of trash talking, you’ll be surprised to hear both men are actually tired of talking.
“I’m kind of done talking, it’s time to let my fists talk,” Logan Paul said after they weighed in.
"It's over for him,” KSI responded.
"He should have beat me in the last fight, that was his best opportunity.
"Look at my team, my team is stacked. I've got Larry Wade, he's trained Shawn Porter and he's currently training Luis Ortiz. I've got Jeff Mayweather as my trainer as well. I've got Viddal Riley, Leon Williams, I've got Stitch Duran as my cut-man.
"Look at the team, I'm stacked. He has Shannon Briggs, he has a hype-man. It's over for him, it's literally over for him."
Amongst the circus, there are also a couple of world title fights at the Staples Centre.
Devin Haney faces Alfredo Santiago in the first defence of his WBC lightweight title, while Billy Joe Saunders looks to hold onto his WBO super-middleweight belt against Marcelo Esteban Coceres.
When asked to describe himself to the American crowd, Saunders did what Saunders does.
“I’m a sexy motherf*****”
He’s also a pretty good boxer, so make sure you tune in not just to see his looks.
You might not be on board with KSI vs Logan Paul facing in the professional ranks, but you should pay attention to it.
Vithushan Ehantharajah explains why.
At the press conference on Thursday night, tempers reached fever pitch, with KSI telling his opponent “I’m going to f****** kill you”.
He has since clarified his comments.
One man almost stealing all the headlines over this whole event is former world heavyweight champion Shannon Briggs.
At yesterday’s weigh-in, he was see seen throwing punches towards KSI’s team.
We also have our man Steve Bunce out in Los Angeles - and he’s taken a look at if the fight is a crime against boxing.
That size difference could be the difference tonight, and Logan Paul thinks he might just have some fun with it.
Expectations that there would be a sell out were pretty high, but it seems that they will only get around 15,000 at the most in the 20,000 Staples Centre arena.
A lot of people have put that down to ticket prices, with the ‘more expensive seats’ costing up to $1,000.
Considering the fan base is mostly kids around 10-20 years old, might be a bit out of their price range…
From our man on the ground, Chris Stokel-Walker:
Adam has already explained that we're likely going to be a few thousand people short of capacity at tonight's event - and provided one reason why: Logan Paul's young fanbase being priced out of the event. Our reporting on the ground suggests that's a real concern.
I met Natalie Espinoza, a 15-year-old school student from Los Angeles, at the weigh-in yesterday in downtown Los Angeles.
Espinoza has been watching Paul since she was nine, and bunked off school early to see him. But she won't be in attendance at the Staples Centre tonight. "I’m not going to the match tomorrow because I don’t have the money right now," she told me. "But I wanted to come here to get a taste of it."
Victory tonight could see Saunders go on to the mega fights. He holds a piece of the super-middleweight crown and is expected to fight the big names in 2020.
If he gets his way anyway.
Time and time again, Logan Paul has claimed that should he win at the Staples Centre, he wants to move on the UFC.
“I would love to fight Conor McGregor. Here’s the caveat, I don’t want to do it in the next two years.
“I need time to get better and for him to get older.
“Let the man age a little bit, let me get a bit better and start to peak – then I’ll take on McGregor.
“I am a lot bigger than him, 20-30lbs heavier.”
A message from a fan...
Controversially, Eddie Hearn told Seconds Out that KSI ‘doesn’t look great’ ahead of tonight’s fight.
"These guys can fight, a little bit, they know how to box.
"Logan Paul is actually pretty decent, it’s just I don’t know what kind of engine he’s going to have for this fight.
"KSI don’t look great. But he’s at least studied, been around boxing for a couple of years, he’s tried to improve as a fighter.”
From our man on the ground, Chris Stokel-Walker:
It'll be fascinating to see how the two disparate cultures of YouTube and boxing combine tonight. As Adam points out, tonight is a potential seminal moment for Billy Joe Saunders and his professional boxing career - but if yesterday's weigh-in is any indication, the "proper" boxing is just a sideshow to the main event.
It was notable just how muted the reaction was for two world champions stepping onto the scale yesterday - and how even Saunders's eye-catching comments (he called himself "a sexy motherf*****" in the post-weigh-in interview) has nowhere near the polish and entertainment value that the two headline attractions provide. Could we see a quiet crowd for the entirety of the undercard? Or will the traditional boxing audience turn out to support their sport?
We'll soon see - first bell is in three hours.
From our man on the ground, Chris Stokel-Walker:
In many ways, the actual boxing is simply a sideshow to the vast amounts of networking going on in hotels, bars and restaurants around Los Angeles this weekend.
Creators are taking the opportunity to collaborate and chat business as well as producd content for their channels.
"I personally went to the Mayweather-McGregor fight, says Aaron Shepherd of the Goat Agency, an influencer management firm in Los Angeles for the event. "I see this as that sort of level of event. It’s great to be here personally, then from a business side, we’ve just got to be here. We’re chatting to DAZN, who are a client of ours. But it really does feel like a World Cup, where it’s the epicentre of this world. Maybe not of boxing, but of YouTube."
Boxing prepares to be dragged kicking and screaming into YouTube's crazy and dramatic world.
Does it have any idea what it’s letting itself in for?
Chris Stokel-Walker:
I'm outside the STAPLES Center and seeing a lot more people milling about who are wearing Logan Paul t-shirts and hoodies.
It seems that the hometown fans are turning out early for the contest - much different to the weigh-in yesterday.
It seems that the hometown fans are turning out early for the contest - much different to the weigh-in yesterday.
