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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
Sport
Donagh Corby

Vitaly claims Kristen Hanby fight was 'fixed' as debut bout ends in draw

YouTube star Vitaly's boxing career got off to an unsteady start with a majority draw in London tonight.

The Russian was stifled by fellow prankster Kristen Hanby throughout the four-round contest, and was headbutted on a number of occasions on route to a tie in his first bout.

He had promised a 60-second knockout over the much smaller Hanby, but struggled to put his punches together and land cleanly.

Hanby, for his part, used his smaller stature to manoeuvre the ring and avoid the much bigger Russian.

The pair started slower than expected given their heated trash talk leading into the bout, but soon they were swinging for the fences.

Hanby appeared elusive at first, but as he tired he relied heavily on the clinch and keeping the fight as dirty as possible.

Vitaly and Kristen Hanby drew in London (Showstar Boxing)

And he almost had a point deducted after not one but two headbutts in the second round, winding up the massive Russian.

Ultimately, there wasn't a great deal of action, and both men struggled to maintain their gas for the duration of the four rounds.

A raucous sold-out crowd packed the OVO Arena Wembley for the fight, which was a feature bout on the undercard of Deji vs Alex Wassabi.

And despite the low standard of fighting, they were entertained by the antics of the 'natural born prankster' Vitaly.

Hanby had mocked Vitaly's mother on a number of occasions heading into the bout, including comments at the open workout that caused a scuffle between the pair.

How did you score Vitaly vs Kristen Hanby? Let us know your scorecards and opinions in the comments section below!

And despite the Russian insisting that there would be no respect shown after the fight, the pair did embrace, before he called for a rematch on neutral territory.

Vitaly argued that the judges had rigged the fight after the fact, as well as complaining of Hanby's incessant headbutts in the clinch.

But ultimately, his performance left a lot to be desired, and his efforts to secure a fight with Jake Paul will likely be put on hold for the time being.

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