KSI vs Logan Paul: This rematch is no gimmick for two YouTube stars trying their hand at the real deal

The giants of online have a combined following professional boxers could only dream about

KSI vs Logan Paul. Boxing spectacle or commercial gimmick?

The first chapter in this curious tale started back in February 2018 when KSI first stepped into the ring with Joe Weller. An instant sell out, 7,500 screaming fans crammed into London’s Copper Box Arena to watch the 26-year-old YouTuber, wearing a bright red headguard, win via stoppage. This was, after all, an amateur bout.

“If any YouTuber wants it they can come and get it. Jake Paul, Logan Paul, any of the Pauls I don’t care. Bring it,” said KSI, full of adrenaline in the aftermath of his victory.

And so six months went by, online jabs were traded and finally the pair made a deal. Paul, on the back of the near career-ending suicide forest incident, was looking for an out, a distraction. He found it. Boxing.

In the way so many young up and coming boys and girls who need a new lease of life find, boxing answered the call.

This time, an upgrade. With a combined following of well over 50,000,000 people, the tiny Copper Box simply wouldn’t do.

The Manchester Arena it was. A total of 18,000 people in attendance, pay-per-view online, KSI defending his ‘YouTube Boxing Championship’ against the man who everyone wanted to hurt. Headguards back on and away they went.

What happened next was unprecedented. The fight, ending in a controversial draw, sold 1,300,000 pay-per-views at £7.50 per person. £10,000,000 was generated from online purchases alone. A monumental success for all involved. Something that only the elite in contact sport are capable of, the Floyd Mayweathers of the world, the Conor McGregors. KSI and Paul have bigger followings than both men combined.

And so here we are, over a year on from the ‘Biggest Internet Event in History’ and with a score still to settle, KSI and Paul meet again. This time, the Staples Centre plays host. The arena that has seen it all: Oscar de la Hoya vs Shane Mosley, Lennox Lewis vs Vitali Klitschko, Deontay Wilder vs Tyson Fury.

Now KSI vs Logan Paul.

We all know that the quality won’t be at the same level as the many world title fights the legendary arena has seen, but this time it’s different.

This time, it’s professional rules. No headguards, 10oz gloves, KSI and Paul are getting into the real hurt business.

Promoted by Matchroom Boxing USA’s Eddie Hearn, this is no gimmick. There will be no YouTubers on the undercard, it won’t be on the platform that caters to their millions of followers. This time it’s different.

World champions want to be on the undercard, others won’t be able to keep their eyes away. Billy Joe Saunders, the WBO super middleweight champion of the world, personally send KSI a text message asking if he could be on the card.

A genius marketing move by the struggling DAZN which, having failed to put together the trilogy bout between Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez and Gennady Golovkin, looks to round off its 2019 in strong fashion, with Anthony Joshua also attempting to regain his belts from the grasp of boxing’s unlikeliest hero, Andy Ruiz Jr. Put KSI vs Logan Paul up there. From one streaming service in YouTube to another in DAZN, this will be easy for the pair’s millions of consumers to convert to. It could be the biggest fight the platform has seen to date – and will ever see.

KSI and Logan Paul fought in front of 18,000 adoring fans

Hopes that fans of the YouTube stars tuning in to the fight will convert into full-time boxing fans are ambitious, but could just work.

Ryan Garcia, darling of Golden Boy Promotions, manages to blur the line between boxing prospect and online sensation.

A boxing talent with an 18-0 record, 15 by way of knockout, the 21-year-old could well be on his way to a world title bid. But he understands that being a good boxer just isn’t enough anymore. With an Instagram following of over 3,300,000 and the star of a YouTube series, ‘The Flash’ caters to his young audience. And it’s helped him; he sells out minor arenas and is known among the mainstream as well as the typical hardcore boxing crowd.

Why can’t it work the other way? With KSI and Paul lacing up their gloves for their professional debuts among the bruising cruiserweight division, this huge event, which guarantees millions of pay-per-view buys and an instant sell out crowd of 20,000, could become the new norm for the YouTube generation, its stars and their followers.