Viddal Riley made his name in “YouTube boxing”. It’s the black sheep of the sport loathed by traditionalists, and Riley was there for its inception. But he was no YouTuber.
Training internet personality KSI for his blow-off bouts with Joe Weller and Logan Paul across 2018 and 2019, the Tottenham-raised cruiserweight knocked over the early dominoes that have led directly to two-time world heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua fighting Jake Paul in Miami on Friday 19 December.
“They won't give me my credit until I die, man,” Riley lamented to The Independent in a central London hotel. “I know that for as long as boxing has existed on this planet, when me and Leon [Willis] decided to train JJ [Olatunji, real name of KSI] for that Joe Weller fight, we changed the game of boxing forever going forward. It sounds mad arrogant and big-headed, but it’s factual.”
Riley’s two years as KSI’s trainer catapulted him into the spotlight. He was always a boxer first but his on-screen affiliation with the YouTube megastar gave him the foundations to build a personal brand – a necessity for greatness in combat sports. Now, speaking as the British cruiserweight champion while flanked by his cameraman, vlogging for his 1.2m YouTube subscribers, the 28-year-old is one of the country’s most noteworthy pugilists. And in his latest business move, he has gone full circle.
The Briton became a free agent this year after his departure from Boxxer, with promoter behemoths Queensberry and Matchroom, as well as Paul’s Most Valuable Promotions, circling for his signature. Instead, at the beginning of December, Riley became the marquee signing of MF Pro: a new promotion for professional boxers affiliated with KSI’s crossover boxing brand Misfits.
This was not a simple decision for Riley to make, knowing Queensberry and Matchroom’s penchant for creating world champions as well as the unproven nature of Misfits within elite-level boxing. “I knew that it would come with the stigma,” he recalled, wrestling with the idea of straying from the previously trodden path to success. “All the negative stuff, all the things that you think are like, ‘Is this gonna ruin me or is it gonna help me grow?’
“And then I got to a point where I just didn't care what anyone thought anymore, and knew that in front of my face, written down, it's the best deal for me. It’s better than Queensberry, it’s better than Matchroom, it’s better than MVP, it’s better than Boxxer. So if I pick any other contract other than this one, with all the people I know there as well, I must be a fool – and I definitely ain’t one of those.”
Still, there is another potentially problematic association with Misfits. The brand was in the headlines in October for booking a match involving Andrew Tate, a British-American influencer. A self-described “misogynist” who flaunts his lavish lifestyle on social media, Tate has faced numerous allegations of rape and human trafficking, all of which he denies.
Platforming such a controversial character has resulted in a torrent of backlash towards Misfits, although MF Pro is a separate, sister company to Misfits, and Riley stresses: “Because I’m not on the same shows, it’s alright. If I was on the same show, it could be a problem.”
Tate is due to fight TV personality Chase DeMoor in Dubai on 20 December, a day after Joshua vs Paul. Riley was sure to hype up the event and give props to numerous undercard fighters such as Amir “Cashman” Anderson, Anthony Taylor and Carla Jade, citing his commitment to the crossover cause.
“I’m gonna be there watching it and I think I’ll be very entertained, because there’s some very good fights on the card. As you can see, I know crossover. It’s something that I helped build, and you want to know what’s going on with it.”
But as far as Tate goes, he wants any association to be limited to the imagination. “As long as I don’t step in that ring as a competitor, then I don’t think the Andrew Tate association is crazy,” he asserts.
Tate’s arrival undoubtedly hurt Misfits in its pursuit of being taken seriously. Riley has done the opposite, bringing unforeseen pedigree to the brand. “The Rilest” is gearing up to enter his prime in the next few years and secured the biggest win of his career this year, dethroning former Olympic boxer Cheavon Clarke at the home of his beloved Tottenham Hotspur to claim the British cruiserweight title on the Chris Eubank Jr vs Conor Benn undercard back in April.
“I’ve got a lot of Arsenal fans around me – close people that I love. Beating an Arsenal fan for the British title may be the only time that I had Arsenal fans be happy Tottenham won,” chuckled Riley, who confirms a British title defence is in the pipeline for the first quarter of 2026.
His accolades don’t stop at his professional record. Riley also boasts amateur wins over Daniel Dubois and Chris Billam-Smith, two Britons who went on to become world champions.
“I have so much respect for Daniel Dubois because I’ve literally known him since I was eight years old,” Riley said. “ I’ve known Daniel for 20 years. I remember when it wasn’t looking like he would be who he is today, and he done it, man, through everything.
“We know how life throws things at you and through all of the stuff that he would’ve had to deal with, he became heavyweight champion of the world.
“Same for Chris Billam-Smith, I think I was like 18; no one thought he was going to be a world champion. He deserves it.”
Fate can be a weird thing in boxing, and harbouring aspirations of global glory himself, Riley knows he could share the ring with one or both of them again if he stays on his upward trajectory. “I’m really proud of both of them, and if I have to fight him [Billam-Smith] one day – Daniel, maybe him too – as proud as I am, you know how the game goes.”
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