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
Please allow a moment for the live blog to load...
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.
THE FIGHT IS OVER!
Deji's team throw the towel into the ring and Jake Paul is declared the winner, with his power and ultimately, his fitness, proving far too much for his opponent who showed plenty of heart. A fifth round stoppage. (AH)
As Adam says, Deji may have lost £50,000, but he's gained a lot of respect. (CSW)
Aaaaaand the king of merch announces his new clothing line in his post-match interview. We won't repeat the URL here. (CSW)
"I feel amazing, I worked so hard for this. Deji fought an amazing fight, I respect him. I hope he learned a lesson about the things he said. Much respect to him - no hard feelings."
The first words from Jake Paul after his victory. (AH)
Jake Paul has his arm raised after victory against Deji
According to commentator the True Geordie, the belt for the main event has gone missing...
Smooth, guys. (AH)
The main event is almost upon us.
Watch the ultimate KSI vs Logan Paul trailer to get you *even more* excited
The main event is nigh: KSI versus Logan Paul.
The build-up to this bout can seem like another world to the uninitiated.
In the half year since KSI challenged Paul to a boxing there have been dustups and diss tracks (foul-mouthed songs and music videos produced especially for the fight by either participant, denigrating their opponent - if you don't know, don't bother asking).
Paul’s 54-year-old father, Greg, was even punched in the face by an unknown assailant outside a July press conference in London to promote tonight’s fight.
This isn’t just a night of entertainment: for some, it’s a chance to cash in. £100,000 of bets were taken on KSI’s previous match against Joe Weller back in February, and according to Ladbrokes’s Alex Apati, “this is going to be bigger than the KSI vs Joe Weller fight – by some distance.”
It’s also bigger betting market than equivalent mainstream boxing matches. Last weekend Olympic boxer Paddy Barnes fought Cristofer Rosales in a world title fight. “By the time [Paul and KSI] enter the ring, we’re predicting 14 times more bets to be taken on this than the Barnes versus Rosales clash,” says Apati.
Two weeks before the bout, Ladbrokes recorded a £1,000 bet on Paul, then the outsider, winning. For context, he started off as a 2/1 shot.
For a while, that bet was an outlier – but the markets have closed and Paul overtook KSI early on Thursday morning as the favourite.
We've already explained the oddity of some of you out there placing real money bets on the outcome of the fight, but the betting patterns can actually tell us something interesting about each main event fighter's respective fanbases.
Three in every four bets received by Ladbrokes are for a KSI victory, they've shared with The Independent exclusively. But they're all small stakes.
The quarter of bets favouring Logan Paul have been bigger stakes, swaying the odds in his favour. (CSW)
Very big boos for the sight of Logan Paul on the big screen here in Manchester. (CSW)
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