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Will we ever see Jake Paul vs KSI?
Jake Paul will return to the ring this Saturday to take on Julio César Chávez Jr at the Honda Centre in Anaheim.
As Paul continues his journey to becoming an unlikely world champion, fans are left wondering if there is still a sliver of hope for a fight between him and his biggest internet rival, KSI (Oladije William Olatunji).
The clash between two of the world’s biggest creators has been desperately pursued by fans for over five years, but nothing could ever seem to fall into place for myriad reasons from both sides.
Is it perhaps too far gone, as both men now walk very different paths? Or could they shock the world and finally come to an agreement one day?
History of the feud
KSI and Jake Paul are considered the founding fathers of influencer boxing. KSI famously took it to the big stage, fighting fellow YouTuber Joe Weller at the Copper Box in 2018 and after his victory, he called out both Jake and Logan Paul.
It was the elder Paul who ended up accepting the challenge, and Jake fought KSI’s younger brother Deji on the same card at Manchester Arena.
KSI fought to a draw with Logan, and Jake beat Deji via fifth-round stoppage. The draw perfectly set up a mega-fight rematch between KSI and Logan Paul.
The promotion was picked up by Matchroom, and the fight was held in Los Angeles. KSI emerged victorious via split decision, and a tale of brotherly revenge was written for Jake.
Both men continued to box, with KSI continuing down the influencer path and Paul looking more towards fighting real combat sports athletes.
This led to him fighting Tommy Fury in 2023, which gave him the only blemish on his record via split decision.
It then seemed as though KSI may have been angling towards Paul once again when he got into the ring to fight Fury just months later, also losing by decision.
But with ego at stake, neither seemed able to put that aside to make a fight, with weight being the major issue in negotiations.
KSI usually boxes at a catchweight of around 185lbs, whereas Paul has grown into a fully-fledged cruiserweight at 200lbs and even moved up to heavyweight to fight Mike Tyson Last year.
The closest they have come to getting a fight on was in 2023, when they verbally agreed on social media to a winner-takes-all fight at Wembley Stadium, but all went quiet after this. Instead, they both fought Tommy Fury that year.
What has been said?
In June 2024, KSI made his ‘final offer’ to Paul, proposing a fight that would have taken place in May this year at 185lbs, that he believed would have given him ample time to prepare himself for the bout and get down to the weight.
The British YouTube star said: “Today I will be making my final offer. May 2025, it gives you all the time in the world to be ready and we can do it in America, just to make you that bit happier.”
He concluded: “185lbs is my final offer, take it or leave it.”
In October 2024, Paul responded with an equally dramatic ultimatum to his long-term rival on his podcast BS w/ Jake Paul, saying that he was willing to compromise on the weight and meet KSI at 192.5lbs, but made it clear this was also his ‘final offer’.
Paul said: “I think it’s an excuse not to fight me. He’s hiding behind it, the middle between 185lbs and 200lbs. I’d go to 192.5lbs. There you go, KSI. That’s the meet in the middle, and I’d have to die to get there.”
He continued: “You didn’t want to budge, I didn’t want to budge. 192.5lbs, that’s my final offer. He’s probably just going to say, ‘I’m focused on my music career.’ There is my compromise, and that’s that – let’s see what happens.”
Nothing happened - both men seemed content to move on with their lives, never knowing who would have come out on top in the biggest grudge match in influencer boxing history.
The two are on diverging paths, and a fight between them looks less and less likely as Paul wades further into the professional game and KSI has launched a successful drinks brand with Jake’s brother and music career alongside his various YouTube ventures.
Jake Paul vs Julio Cesar Chavez Jr will be streamed exclusively on DAZN PPV this Saturday (June 28). Buy the PPV now here
