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.
The family sat behind me decided to make this their toilet break match, and it's look in like a bad decision. Wild opening gets the crowd rocking. (CSW)
Wow. How has Scarce survived that first round? He threw about one punch and took tens of Rackaracka's, from the body to the face - a very good mix. Two minutes of abuse, how has he survived that round? Wow. (AH)
Well, the second round was just a swinging contest. Racka landed a lot more (obviously) and takes the second 10-9. (AH)
Early into the third and the fight is over. It's waved off after yet another Racka onslaught. Scare's chances of getting anything in that fight were... well, scarce. (AH)
For the EastEnders fans out there like myself - I just spotted something that has made my night.
Jake Wood AKA the legend that is Max Branning is in the building. (AH)
Jake Wood in the crowd
There's some entertainment going on right now in the boxing ring... football YouTube freestyler Daniel Cutting performs his routine to a very bored looking crowd. Am I right in saying that, Chris? (AH)
Yep... I've always thought football would be made better with the addition of dubstep. (CSW)
The skills might have been impressive but it's fair to say that underwhelmed an increasingly busy MEN Arena.
Daniel Cutting freestyles
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