Boxing
Logan Paul predicts 'first-round decapitation' in rematch with KSI
YouTube stars KSI and Logan Paul held their U.K. press conference for their Nov. 9 fight on Monday, coming face-to-face and letting the insults fly in a wild session.
Paul hit the stage with a tight muscle shirt, while KSI arrived with a dog and offered Paul a thesaurus to learn more words.
Paul, easily the more animated of the two viral stars, did everything from stand on his chair and pose to crouch in a Spiderman-like stance, all while vowing to have his hand raised in the rematch slated for Nov. 9 at Staples Center in Los Angeles, and live on DAZN.
“I may kill this man,” Paul said, managing to keep a straight face.
"I didn't know what I was doing last year,” he continued several moments later. “Now I know what I'm doing. And I'm going to win and I'm going to make you a meme and you’re gonna be my b—, bro.”
Later, when further pressed about how the rematch will be different from the original, Paul simply offered: “Here's the difference — I have a mustache now and I look good. I ... look ... good.”
He even came equipped with a more ridiculous prediction.
“First-round decapitation,” Paul said.
To that, KSI offered: “Round 5. Five rounds of you suffering, and in the fifth round, I end you.”
That was after he said earlier in the press conference that he has “no respect for Logan Paul” and “I can’t wait to finish you off, bro.”
When the YouTube stars weren’t jawing at each other, their trainers were having colorful exchanges of their own. Former world heavyweight champion Shannon Briggs, who has been training Paul, said his charge has been taking this rematch seriously.
“He’s been training like a heavyweight champion — six times a week,” Briggs said before letting his own viral chant of "Let's go champ!" fly a couple of times.
When KSI’s trainer Viddal Riley tossed some T-shirts Briggs’ way, “The Cannon” threw them into the crowd and later said that Riley “can’t train a dog to sit,” referring to his lack of boxing knowledge.
KSI and Paul fought to a majority draw last August at the Manchester Arena in Manchester, England. Dubbed “The Biggest Internet Event in History,” the fight generated over one million pay-per-view buys on YouTube at $10 per pop, prompting Hearn to throw his name into the fray and promote the rematch.
Already, WBC interim world lightweight champion Devin Haney has been announced as a fighter on the KSI-Logan Paul 2 card, adding boxing legitimacy to the internet-driven headliners.
