KSI has been told by his upcoming opponent Joe Fournier that he will suffer the same fate as YouTube rival Jake Paul when they meet in the ring.
Fournier, 40, is KSI's latest challenger as the pair meet at Misfits Boxing 7 on May 13 in London. He is unbeaten in nine professional fights with most of his wins coming on the regional circuit in the Dominican Republic. Fournier was beaten by former two-weight world champion David Haye in his last fight, but the bout was sanctioned as an exhibition so the loss didn't go on his professional record.
Paul recently suffered his first boxing defeat to Love Island star Tommy Fury, with the Brit serving as the first professional boxer Paul had ever faced in the ring. Fournier thinks KSI is in the same position as Paul despite 'The Nightmare' already having a win over a professional boxer as he stopped Luis Pineda in a farcical 'two fights in one night event' back in August.
Who wins on May 13 - KSI or Joe Fournier? Let us know your prediction in the comments section below
"I think it's way too soon for him to fight someone like me but there is no going back now," Fournier said. "Like Jake Paul found out, when you get into the ring with a real boxer it's a whole different game. I'm not a basketball player, I'm not a wrestler. I'm a guy who punches people unconscious for a living. That's something that KSI is going to get a rude awakening over on the night.
"I want you to zoom in on his eyes when he receives the first punch to the face and he's going to be like 'Holy s***, I'm in for a long long night'. I'm going to bludgeon him, there's going to be no let-up from my side. I'm going to go out of my way to really hurt every single element of his upper body, I want to inflict pain on him."
Fournier claims to have broken six of his last professional opponent's ribs and is confident he will be too skilful for KSI on the night. The 40-year-old has never fought any top-level opponents in his professional career but claims to have never been dropped by former world titleholders in sparring.
"Skills pay the bills and I feel like I'm more skillful than him," Fournier added. "I'm bigger than him, way more powerful than him and his chin has never been tested. I've been hit in the head by some big guys, the last guy I fought was David Haye. Only two people in the world have ever gone the distance against him, me and Wladimir Klitschko.
"When you consider I was giving away 40lb to David Haye, now I'm fighting at my peak championship weight of 180lb. They made me sick down to his weight thinking they were getting an advantage, but that's just going to make me faster and more ruthless. They've continued to make mistakes all along the way, they should have fought me in January when I just left the pub."
