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KSI vs Logan Paul rematch 'is a circus', promoter Eddie Hearn says

‘I was stood in the press conference thinking ‘What the f*** is going on here?’’

Adam Hamdani
Thursday 19 September 2019 14:15 BST
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Trailer for KSI vs Logan Paul boxing rematch

Matchroom Boxing USA promoter Eddie Hearn says that KSI vs Logan Paul II is a ‘circus’.

Hearn is the sole promoter of the event, which falls on 9 November and will be broadcast on his US project that is DAZN.

The 40-year-old has made no secret of the fact he is promoting the fight in order to boost subscriber numbers for the streaming service which has only been in the boxing market for little over one year.

More than eight million people have watched last weekend’s press conference, numbers Hearn’s biggest and most popular fighters could only dream of.

And while he finds the event bizarre and unlike anything else he has promoted, Hearn recognises the reach it will have.

“It’s a circus,” Hearn told The Sportsman.

“I think it will be good for the sport, but it’s a circus.

“I have to be honest, I was stood in the press conference thinking ‘What the f**k is going on here?’.

“Then I looked at the numbers and I saw that 700,000 people were watching the press conference live on their channels. I think now 10 million people have watched the press conference.

“So what’s the global audience for this fight going to be? I don’t know, in excessive of 50 million?

“If we can retain 1% to the sport, then that’s massive for the sport, but we’ve got to work hard to do that. It’s not going to be easy, I’d like to retain 10%.

“If we can showcase why we love the sport, Devin Haney, Billy Joe Saunders and show this new audience how great the sport is, then we’ve got a chance.”

Hearn is promoting the event for DAZN in the US (Getty Images)

Hearn went on to say that Olympic athletes are ‘no longer role models’ for the up and coming audiences, with YouTubers like KSI and Paul taking over.

“We can’t ignore this new world that we live in. Olympic athletes are no longer role models for the younger generation, Youtube stars are. As sad as it may seem, that’s the truth, that’s the world we live in.

“We just need to face reality, embrace it and try and use that to keep growing boxing.”

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