KSI vs Logan Paul: YouTube rivals deserve respect – even if they won’t get it from most

They are both brave and flawed boxers - but it is too easy to be critical of their skills. For all their millions and profile and notoriety they fought with tremendous heart and guts

It was the perfect fight to end the strangest of nights at ringside in Los Angeles when Logan Paul and KSI fought each other to a bitter standstill.

They had each thrown every single punch they had ever been shown, they ducked, they dived, they missed, they were dropped, they broke rules, they bled and they stood exhausted against a backdrop of cheers waiting for the decision. It was tight, real tight, but the split decision went to Watford’s KSI with scores of 57-54 and 56-55 and one of 56-55 for Paul.

Paul and KSI were having their first fight as licenced professional boxers, the bout had divided people in the boxing business, their place as the main event and talk of millions and millions in pay helped make their six-round crazy slugfest a major global event. The reality is that for 18-minutes two absolute novices took over the sport, which is truly amazing.

The pair share a YouTube following of 40 million people, their close friends and their rivals from the YouTube world filled the ringside seats, arriving like true Hollywood celebrities, communicating with their millions and millions of followers. “You broke the internet,” Michael Buffer, the smoothest of old-school ring announcers told the pair. There is early, bold talk of record sales, of old numbers from this year’s world title fights being smashed, ruined, left as lost digits like confetti after a great wedding.

When it was over and their final-round lunges had missed each other, they were stopped in their tracks by the bell, just about audible above the howling crowd. They stood in front of each other, defiant to the very end and they never embraced, which is sadly more common in modern boxing. A few minutes later they put each other in a man-hug: “It takes a man to get in the ring and accept defeat,” KSI said. “You pushed me, man. You were tough,” Paul told him. The truth is, they were both tough, both taken to a place they have never been before and for all their millions and profile and notoriety they fought with tremendous heart and guts. Sure, they were raw, but they never backed down.

In the opening rounds KSI missed wildly with his punches from both hands, Paul moved safely out of distance, flicking out his jab and they were stuck in a lot of ugly embraces. “There was a lot of dirty boxing going on,” said Jack Reiss, the referee and one of the very best in the world. The pivotal round was the fourth, KSI was down when Paul connected with a short and sweet right uppercut. However, Paul struck him when he was on the canvas and that gentle, but fully illegal tap, cost the Californian the fight.

Reiss took control, gave KSI five minutes to recover, lectured Paul and then took two points off him; that is a crucial number in a fight of only six rounds. Paul deserved it, but it was cruel. KSI, you see, would have struggled to survive had he not been given the extended break - the fight was won and lost at that moment. KSI survived the round, Paul should have chased him urgently, but he is - it is too easy to forget - just a beginner, a novice in every true sense.

They carried on swinging and landing and ducking until the final bell in the sixth. They are both basic boxers, brave and flawed and it is too easy to be critical of their skills - there are other novice fighters in Britain with the same rudimentary skills. The problem with Paul and KSI is simple - they are making millions but it's that they are making their millions because of their YouTube status and not their boxing skill. In this sport we generally applaud raw novices in hard fights, but it seems this swinging brawl was the exception and that is not right.

From my ringside seat at the Staples Centre they put on a show, a real fight with Rocky punches and wild exchanges. It was not always pretty, but it was truly gripping and they each deserve respect. It is funny, but boxers will give them far more credit than many others. It was an event, odd but memorable.