A success or a joke? Boxing split on celebrity fight night

It was hailed a success by the promoter and drew stars like Justin Bieber and Mike Tyson, but some sections of boxing weren’t buying it.

The fight itself ended in a split decision — and the reception among the boxing community was also divided as Britain’s KSI edged America’s Logan Paul in a cruiserweight boxing rematch of YouTube celebrity stars.

KSI, a 26-year-old London internet personality and rapper also known as Olajide Olatunji, was declared a narrow winner in a bout that proved a hit with audiences but was trashed by some professional fighters.

Mexican-American veteran Abner Mares — a former world champion at bantamweight, super bantamweight and featherweight — ripped the online video celebrity bout.

“When did boxing become such a joke?” Mares tweeted. “Listen everybody’s got their own thoughts and opinion about this fight last night, but me as a real professional boxer that has sacrificed so much to get to a certain level and get paid what I deserved is a slap in the face in so many ways.

“Nothing to do with the network or how it was promoted because if you ask me yes it’s smart on their end financially, but I saw so many illegal punches that could’ve damaged a person’s life and to see how much they got paid for a 6 round fight and to see real pros be the undercards … I know a lot of y’all said it was entertaining but so are the fights between two crackheads in the street. I’m just speaking as a real pro fighter but then again I have to remember that we live in a world that is upside down now days.”

Mares wasn’t the only fighter speaking out.

So now #KSIvsLoganPaul2 is over who’s up for @justinbieber v @ZacEfron for the Disney title #26RR

— Ryan Rhodes 👊🏼 (@26RLR) November 10, 2019

So now #KSIvsLoganPaul2 is over who’s up for @justinbieber v @ZacEfron for the Disney title #26RR

— Ryan Rhodes 👊🏼 (@26RLR) November 10, 2019

2 novice fighters put on a good fight tonight. Well done to my friend @KSIOlajidebt and unlucky @LoganPaul. A 3rd fight wouldn’t surprise me.

— Amir Khan (@amirkingkhan) November 10, 2019

I just finished watching the #loganpaulvsKSI2 fight & the after fight reactions. Now I know the boxing purist may poo poo some of the boxing fundamentals on show, but both fighters were much improved over last year & overall did not discredited boxing - for their debut it was 👍🏾

— Audley Harrison MBE (@audleyharrison) November 10, 2019

Two judges gave KSI the nod — one 57-54 and another 56-55 — while Paul was seen a 56-55 winner by the third judge at the Los Angeles showdown, a star-studded affair with Justin Bieber, Wiz Khalifa and Mike Tyson among celebrities in the crowd.

The first fight, hyped as the biggest event in internet history, ended in a majority draw. It was contested under amateur rules in August, 2018, in Manchester, England, but the rematch was a professional debut of six three-minute rounds.

Paul, who said he was ill all day before the bout, had two points deducted in the fourth round for punching KSI while he was on the canvas. “I got two points taken away from me and that’s the reason I lost tonight,” he said.

Referee Jack Reese said he was left with no choice but to dock Paul. “It wasn’t an easy fight to officiate,” Reese said. “They were debutants. It was sloppy. There was a lot of dirty fighting in there.

“(In boxing) there’s infractions, misdemeanours and felonies. There were quite a few infractions and misdemeanours on both parts. I was trying to let the fight flow without taking points. But when Logan knocked him down and hit him while he was down — that was a felony.”

Referee Jack Reiss deducts two points from Logan Paul. Picture: Jayne Kamin-Oncea/Getty Images/AFP

But former heavyweight world titlist Shannon Briggs disagreed with the referee. “Jack was out of pocket for that one. It changed everything. (Logan) would have won,” Briggs told IFL TV.

“Logan started slow, but he got to work, he dropped him, he was the better boxer, the better technique. He was just under the weather. I thought he won the fight.

“Those two points were disgusting. I don’t know what the hell happened. I don’t know what got in to Jack to take two points. The guy had 30 minutes to recover (from the punches). He was dirty, he was swinging wild, hitting my man in the back of the head all the time. And yet Jack thought (Logan) was being dirty, that’s not right. I smell a rat.”

After the fight, Paul said he didn’t feel as if he was defeated. “You’ll see me in the squared circle again,” Paul vowed. “I’ll be back.”

But KSI dismissed any thought of a third fight against Paul. “It is done,” he said. “I’m on to the next thing.”

Fight telecaster DAZN declared the fight a major triumph for the streaming service. “Saturday night was a big success,” DAZN’s executive vice president for North America Joseph Markowski said. “The KSI versus Logan Paul event generated a significant boost in subscriptions, caught the attention of mainstream media and introduced the sport of boxing to a completely new audience. Those were our goals at the outset and we are very pleased with the results.”

Justin Bieber was in attendance. (Photo by Jayne Kamin-Oncea/Getty Images)