KSI fears fighting bitter rival Jake Paul too soon could see his YouTube boxing project brought to a premature halt.
The YouTube star will take o n Conor McGregor's teammate Dillon Danis on January 14 at the OVO Wembley Arena as he looks to take on step closer to taking on long-term rival Paul. KSI - real name JJ Olatunji - made his return to the ring in August beating Swarmz and professional boxer Luis Pineda on one night, before once again declaring his ambition to fight Paul next year.
KSI has launched his own promotional label Misfits Boxing, and is intending to fight Paul late next year which is his sole reason for returning to the YouTube boxing scene. But KSI believes that a fight with Paul too soon could spell an end to the fast rise of influencer boxing, and has reiterated his lack of interest in money.
"That's why, when I came back, I wanted to build it with Misfits," KSI said when discussing his long-term ambition to fight Paul. "That's why I'm always going to be so close. Even after I fight Jake and I put the gloves up, you never know, man. If someone excites me in the YouTube space and makes me want to come back to fight again, I'll do that on Misfits.
"I'm here to help build the whole scene. That's one of the reasons why I didn't want to fight Jake so soon or so instantly. Because I do know that is a fear of mine, as soon as I fight Jake, it's done. If I just cared about making money, then I would've fought Jake yesterday."
Paul is a few fights ahead of KSI in the professional boxing space having fought and defeated former UFC champion Tyron Woodley, before o utpointing UFC legend Anderson Silva in his latest outing in October. However KSI is supremely confident he will be the one who has his hand raised, when the pair meet which is considered the pinnacle fight in the influencer space.
Who wins if the pair do meet - KSI or Jake Paul? Let us know in the comments section below
KSI's next outing against Danis has come into fair amounts of criticism online, with many believing he should have stepped in with Woodley next as a good acid test. However the British star believes fans won't be happy with his opponents until he makes the leap and chooses his potential winner-takes-all clash with Paul.
"Danis is coming to my hometown," KSI said on a YouTube video when discussing his recently announced clash with Danis. "I have seen the comments recently on Instagram, Twitter and YouTube. I know you lot will not be happy until I fight Jake Paul. Alright s*** then let me fight Floyd Mayweather.
"'We don't even want that, Logan and Deji have already done that. Besides Mayweather is old as f***, he basically weighs half of you, no-one wants to see that'. You guys will just not be happy until I fight Jake Paul."
