KSI's former coach Viddal Riley has confusingly explained that the rapper would need to actually lose weight from his 193lb frame in order to defy the odds and beat strongman Thor Bjornsson in a boxing match.
Talks of the comical mismatch, that would place 5'10" KSI, who last weighed in at 193.4lb, against 6'9", 335lb Bjornsson, began when the YouTuber joked that he could win a fight between the pair during a podcast appearance. He would later walk back the claim, but it didn't stop fans from speculating about the match-up.
And now his ex-coach and top prospect Riley has explained what he would need to do to get the victory should they ever get in the ring together. The 5-0 London native has experience of this sort of mismatch himself, having sparred Bjornsson's last opponent and ex-world's strongest man Eddie Hall going into their fight.
He said during a YouTube video : "There is no reason why JJ [KSI] can't get in the ring, pick, pull, pick, pull and just move, move, move. You've seen me do it with Eddie Hall, it can be done and there's evidence of that with me sparring Eddie. I'm not saying that JJ is me, but I'm saying it can be done."
And Riley even believes that his former protege is not "far-fetched" in believing that he would be able to beat the giant Icelander. Bjornsson has shown his power in the ring, dropping Hall twice during their fight as well as quickly stopping Devon Larratt in his debut.
KSI was dropped during his sole professional fight, when Logan Paul hit him with a flush uppercut before landing illegal shots after the knockdown that saw his two point advantage wiped. But Bjornsson would need to work considerably on his speed to be able to catch the Brit, who would be considerably quicker on his feet given he weighs around 140lb less.
Would you like to see a fight between KSI and Thor Bjornsson? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below!
"For him to believe he can do it is not far-fetched thinking," Riley continued. "He would need to stay switched on. You can't get another one of them 'Logans', I call the uppercut the 'Logan', there's no way. But avoiding situations like that, I don't see why he couldn't pick and poke his way around Thor.
Riley would, however, prefer to see his man actually lose weight to fight Bjornsson, despite the already huge weight difference between the pair. He added: "152kg Thor weighs, he's 6'9". JJ is 5'11" you could squeeze and say six-foot, he's 5'11 and 90kg, but I believe his best performances would be south of 85kg. For him to be able to perform how he would need to against Thor and successfully get the dub, he would need to be lighter, not heavier.
"Thor is not going to go down more than he has already. Will the fight happen? No, I don't think so but it would be big, huge. It would be much bigger than me sparring Eddie Hall and that was big."
