Eddie Hearn says that KSI and Logan Paul need to be aware of the dangers of professional boxing as the two colossal YouTubers gear up for their November 9 rematch.
This will be the first professional fight in both KSI and Logan Paul’s respective careers. The first bout between them was a white-collar amateur boxing event, where both fighters wore head guards but this time around there will be no such protection.
After Paul claimed he would kill his British rival in the ring during Monday’s UK press conference, Hearn warned the two fighters that boxing isn’t a game.
Speaking to The Sportsman, Hearn said: “It's heat of the moment stuff, he shouldn’t have really said that but a lot of other fighters say that as well.
“I think the way he said it is different to other people if that makes sense. These guys speak in a different sort of language.
They need to learn about the dangers of the sport because when they walk into that arena on November 9 it’s going to be very dangerous.
The battle between two of Youtube’s biggest stars hasn’t gone down too well with the boxing hardcore but Hearn says, for the next generation of sports fans, these social media icons are as inspiring as Olympians.
“We live in a world where these guys are the new role models. As a parent, like it or hate it, it’s the truth.
“My kids, I want them to be inspired by Olympic athletes but the truth is that they’re inspired by YouTubers and social media stars.
“So we can’t just ignore that and be like ‘Oh that’s ridiculous’, this is just how it is. Hopefully, these guys [KSI and Logan Paul] can be positive role models too.
“I know they’re doing this fight and that’s entertainment, but the one thing I like about the boxing is that they’re taking it seriously. They’re following the code of the sport and hopefully, they can get on with that afterwards but let's see.”
The first fight between the two was watched by a whopping 2,250,000 people online and the rematch is expected to surpass that figure.
“It won’t do anywhere near the UK pay-per-view that AJ vs Ruiz will do. I think this does 400,000 or 500,000 subscribers for DAZN and I think AJ vs Ruiz will do the same sort of numbers." Hearn added.
“It’s not just how you compare it to a boxing audience but it’s how you compare it to any audience.
Forget boxing, look at any sport like Rugby, Cricket, Golf. Do you think anything like that delivers numbers like this? Impossible.
“That’s why Sky look at it and they cannot believe it.
“We have a Youtube channel for Matchroom, Matchroom Boxing Youtube, we’re small, we’ve got 70,000 members and we’ve only just started.
“For the AJ vs Ruiz press conference, I think we got 9,000 or 10,000 watching live, for tonight's press conference we got 30,000 watching live.
“That shows you that three times as many people have watched this than the AJ vs Ruiz press conference.”
