KSI vs Fournier LIVE: Boxing fight result, reaction and latest news after controversial knockout

Reacting to a clip of the knockout on social media, Jake Paul said he did not “respect” the way the fight had ended and called for KSI to be disqualified, or that the controversial result should be declared a no contest.

“I respect boxing too much to respect what that was,” Paul tweeted. “If that was indeed a real boxing match it will be ruled a no contest or disqualification.”

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Joe Fournier has accused KSI of cheating in their boxing match on Saturday, after the YouTube star won with a controversial elbow.

“He cheated – clear, black and white,” Fournier told Fred Peck. “You’ve all seen the replays, it’s gone viral, it’s all over the world.

“He hit me with a clean elbow, and the ref was right there, watched it. Obviously [KSI] owns the promotion; when you’re fighting the promoter on his own show... I’ve never been cheated like that in my life.”

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Popularity is not the synonym for likeability that some think it is, and KSI has long had his detractors. Wisely, however, he began to weaponise a widespread desire to watch him get punched in the face. In 2018, KSI fought in his first amateur boxing match, beating fellow British YouTuber Joe Weller via TKO inside three rounds, following a build-up that saw KSI mock his opponent for opening up on experiences with depression. KSI later apologised for his comments.

Next for the Briton was Logan Paul, who in some ways appeared to be his American equivalent, and the pair fought to a draw in a sold-out Manchester Arena. The fight did a reported 1.3 million pay-per-view buys, leading to a professional rematch in 2019 – held at Los Angeles’ famed Staples Center, streamed on Dazn, promoted by Eddie Hearn, and won by KSI on points. Fighting on the undercard were world champions Billy Joe Saunders and Devin Haney, the latter of whom defends his undisputed lightweight titles against Vasily Lomachenko this month.

The dynamic was disconcerting for most boxing fans, who accused the YouTubers of making a mockery of the sport, yet pop star Justin Bieber was present as the likes of Haney and Saunders were exposed to an entirely new audience – one that they would have otherwise never reached. Hearn, the most recognisable promoter in boxing, recognised that.

Alongside Paul and the American’s younger brother Jake, KSI had ushered in the era of ‘influencer boxing’.

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YouTube star KSI beat Joe Fournier with a controversial knockout on Saturday, finishing the former professional boxer with an accidental elbow.

KSI, 29, landed the bigger punches throughout the first round of the exhibition bout at London’s Wembley Arena, and he tagged Fournier, 40, with a huge overhand right in Round 2. That was followed by an attempted right hook, with KSI (real name Olajide Olatunji) instead making contact with his elbow. The strike sent Fournier tumbling to the canvas and left him staring up at the ceiling, unable to beat the referee’s count.

In a post-fight interview, KSI denied that he had stopped his fellow Briton with his elbow, before calling Tommy Fury into the ring for a face-off, which ended with the pair being separated.

Tommy Fury brawled with a fellow former Love Island contestant on Saturday, coming to blows with Idris Virgo in the crowd at KSI’s fight with Joe Fournier.

Fury, half-brother of world heavyweight champion Tyson, is unbeaten as a professional boxer but is best known for his time on the reality television show Love Island, on which Virgo also featured.

Virgo, who is also unbeaten in pro boxing, and Fury were seen fighting in the crowd at Wembley Arena, moments after a fight had finished.

Tommy Fury has claimed he would stop KSI “very early” if the pair ever went toe-to-toe in the boxing ring.

As he arrived to watch the YouTuber-turned-boxer take on Joe Fournier in the main event of Misfits Boxing 7, Fury compared KSI to his previous opponent, Jake Paul.

“This man is worse than Jake Paul in my opinion, I believe if I fight KSI in the future, he gets stopped very early,” he said.

“He’s a lot more gung-ho than Jake Paul, but that means you leave yourself very open.”

KSI and Tommy Fury were separated during a heated face-off on Saturday, moments after the YouTube star knocked out Joe Fournier in controversial fashion.

KSI, 29, beat businessman and ex-professional boxer Fournier in the second round, dropping the 40-year-old with an accidental elbow in their exhibition bout.

Moments after the main event, Fury – half-brother of world heavyweight champion Tyson Fury – entered the ring to face off with KSI.

“Sign me up, easy money. You’re going to sleep within four rounds,” Fury, 24, told his fellow Briton.

The pair then appeared to clash heads before being separated.

Joe Fournier said on his Instagram story that he will be appealing the result after KSI was awarded a knockout win.

“I knew fighting the promoter there would be every angle in his [favour] but to call this a KO instead of a disqualification after an intentional elbow is disgusting!” Fournier posted.

“We will be appealing this decision Monday and I hope both [KSI and Misfits Boxing, and Professional Boxing Association] do the right thing and show their integrity to the sport of boxing!”

KSI came under starker criticism just last month for his use of a racial slur in a YouTube video, which led the 29-year-old to apologise and visit a Mosque in Bradford – an effort to educate himself on the matter. “There’s no excuse, no matter the circumstances,” he wrote on Twitter. “I shouldn’t have said it and I’m sorry. I’ve always said to my audience that they shouldn’t worship me or put me on a pedestal, because I’m human. I’m not perfect, I’m gonna mess up in life, and lately I’ve been messing up a lot.”

Fans will hope that KSI’s preparations for his future fights will keep him out of such trouble, though his progress has only ever been gradual. His form is lacking, but his power is impressive, as he demonstrated against Joe Fournier last night. The 40-year-old, a former pro boxer with a 9-0 record and an exhibition defeat by David Haye in 2021, was continually caught by heavy shots from KSI for a round-and-a-half, although it was in fact an accidental elbow that finished off Fournier.

In any case, it was a brutal knockout for Fournier, who left Wembley Arena in a daze to return to his fitness and nightclub businesses. Perhaps those are areas for KSI to conquer one day; it would not be a surprise. For now, however, his boxing endeavour takes priority.

JJ’s goal was always to leave his schoolmates in stitches. KSI sets out to leave his opponents with stitches.

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Reacting to a clip of the knockout on social media, Jake Paul said he did not “respect” the way the fight had ended and called for KSI to be disqualified, or that the controversial result should be declared a no contest.

“I respect boxing too much to respect what that was,” Paul tweeted. “If that was indeed a real boxing match it will be ruled a no contest or disqualification.”

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