The dust has barely settled following the bout between KSI and Logan Paul that ended in a majority draw and which exploded social media into a frenzy of debate.
Staged at the Manchester Arena, 21,000 were in attendance to witness one of the most anticipated events of the year, headlined by two YouTube heavy weights who share careers involving music, acting, and now amateur boxing.
The YouTube Boxing Championship did not disappoint, with the main event drummed up by undercard fights between digital stars commanding legions of fans and a penultimate exchange featuring Comedy Shorts Gamer and Jake Paul – KSI’s and Logan’s Paul’s respective younger brothers.
Talks of the potential online viewing audience added to the anticipation in the build-up, with the event moving to a pay-per-view model after KSI v Joe Weller was available to be streamed for free.
According to an Instagram post by MMA announcer Bruce Buffer, brother of world famous boxing announcer Michael Buffer who presented yesterday’s event, over 800,000 paid $10 to watch the boxing on YouTube, with a further 1.2M concurrent viewers watching via pirated Twitch streams.
In comparison, 1.6M people tuned in to watch KSI v Joe Weller, with 8,000 fans in attendance at London’s Olympic Park.
Subscribe to our newsletter for the latest updates on Esports, Gaming and more.
It is believed that KSI will cash in on ticket revenue generated by last night’s 21,000 attendees.
A rematch was already believed to be scheduled ahead of the bout, with KSI’s post-fight interview all but confirming what was surely inevitable once a draw was announced.
Logan Paul will reportedly receive 100% of ticket revenue in the Stateside rematch in February.