KSI vs Logan Paul: Battle of YouTube stars ends in draw – as it happened
We bring you every jab, hook and diss track, while attempting to put this new media monstrosity in context...
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In front of 18,000 fans at the Manchester Arena, YouTube stars KSI and Logan Paul shared the spoils after six rounds of tense white-collar boxing.
While many may pour scorn on a matchup between two amateurs, more than 800,000 streamed the event, billed as the “biggest event in internet history”, at its peak.
At least a half a million more watched on illegal streams, despite the attempts of the organisers to quash them.
The match was the second bout for KSI, who defeated Joe Weller in front of a 7,000-strong sellout in London’s Copper Box Arena back in February.
Fans not able to make it to Manchester for the fight had to pay £7.50 ($10) for the privilege of watching a live stream of the action.
:: Chris Stokel-Walker (CSW) reporting live from the MEN Arena and Adam Hamdani (AH) following all the online reaction
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More than a quarter of a million pounds of bets on the outcome of the event had been taken by British bookmakers by Saturday afternoon, The Independent can exclusively reveal.
“We were blown away by the numbers we saw after KSI's last fight, but that pales in significance in truth, with interest from a betting perspective likely to hit £300,000 by close of play on Saturday night,” said Ladbrokes’ Alex Apati.
One thing I've noticed is that Deji seems to be landing first every time, and you can put that down to his pretty impressive speed. Jake has the major reach advantage, which could help him in the latter rounds if Deji gasses himself out. (AH)
Every time there's a lull, a chant of Deji goes up, willing him to beat Jake Paul. (CSW)
Deji is growing and growing in confidence, with the roar of the crowd overwhelmingly in his favour. That was an interesting round, I think you could score it either way but I'd go for a 10-9 to Jake. That's two rounds to the American. (AH)
The scene during the second round of the fight. (AH)
Deji vs Jake Paul
A few concerned screams came out as Jake Paul lands some heavy blows. (CSW)
That was smart boxing from Jake. Deji spent the whole third round chasing his opponent but the American kept his jab going and moved throughout. It's, honestly, pretty impressive stuff from both. Another 10-9 to Jake Paul. (AH)
Quite sluggish from Deji in the fourth. If he wants to win, at this point he's going to have to go for the knockout. Jake looks fairly comfortable. Looks like 4-0 to me. (AH)
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