KSI and Jake Paul don’t agree on much, but it seems that one thing they see eye-to-eye on is the Brit’s brother’s fight last night.
Deji, who is a massive YouTube star in his own right, face Dawood Savage in a farcical effort on last night’s Misfits Boxing card in Qatar. He landed one of the most bizarre stoppages you will see in boxing this year, but generally flattered to deceive against his winless rival.
The social media star arguably lost the opening two rounds of his contest with Savage in a bout that had to be changed to exhibition rules when he weighed in almost 10lb heavier than his rival. His method victory didn’t help either, as Savage appeared to quit without being hit with anything of substance.
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Deji defeats Dawood Savage in outlandish comebackfight
On Thursday night, popular YouTuber Deji made his return to the ring after over a year out of action. He had spent the early part of the year undergoing a body transformation bet with his brother KSI, but appeared to have put a solid amount of weight on in the aftermath of the challenge.
He ended up tipping the scales a full 9lb heavier than his rival Dawood Savage, who is infamously one of the worst fighters on the celebrity boxing scene. The Emirati influencer had lost his five previous ring efforts by knockout, and many viewed the fight as a mere tune-up for the Brit.
The fight got off to a poor start for Deji, who was pressured by Savage and unable to land any of his big power shots. With Misfits champion Anthony Taylor in the corner, the Emirati adopted a smothering and annoying style, which was clearly frustrating the Brit and arguably even winning rounds.
However, it all came to an end in the third when Deji missed on an uppercut and appeared not to land his follow up hook completely cleanly, but managed to floor Savage all the same. The referee refused to call it a knockdown, and forced the pair to engage against quickly.
Savage was taunting Deji as they entered into a clinch, but after no more than an aggressive break from the tie-up, the underdog flopped to the ground as if he had been knocked out. The referee waved off the contest, declaring Deji the winner.
The bout caused major controversy online, with many fans laughing at the farcical stoppage. Savage seemed to claim that he was injured after the fight, explaining his decision.
KSI and Jake Paul among the critics as Deji vows to make changes in boxing career
Deji’s brother KSI was ringside for the bout in a dual role of promoter and commentator for the bout. He seemed to believe that the initial knockdown should have been scored, but was completely baffled during his commentary as to what had caused the finish.
After the fight, Deji was relentlessly trolled online for his performance and his shape heading into the bout. There had been questions about his level of opponent, and anything less than dominance throughout would have been questioned by fans.
But two unlikely allies were found in the criticism of Deji’s performance as both Jake Paul and KSI joined the pile-on. Paul and KSI are arch-nemeses after a six-year collision course towards a seemingly unmakeable fight, but they were both critical of the showing.
Deji shared a photo to Instagram after the fact apologizing for his performance, and vowing to take the sport more seriously going forward. “Today was a wake up call to start taking boxing more serious,” he wrote. “Even though I won, I’m not happy with my performance! I’ll be back, and better then ever.”
In a now-deleted story post, though, KSI was not convinced. He shared the photo with a caption of his own that read: “Bro says this every time, we’re bored now.” He has since re-shared with a less aggressive caption that reads: “It’s time to fight better opponents. No more warm up fights.”
And Jake Paul wasn’t far behind in sending a cheeky message of his own. Instagram news source TheBreadBatch reposted Deji’s caption, and Paul took to the comments section, replying: “We do not care.”
Jake Paul and Deji fought in each other’s boxing debuts
There is history between Jake Paul and Deji, dating back to when the pair fought in the summer of 2018. Paul won by stoppage after an intense months-long build-up for their fighting debuts, but he was given a fright early when he had his nose bloodied by the Brit.
It seemed that the pair were friendly after the fact, with Deji event travelling to Saudi Arabia to watch Paul fight Tommy Fury. They took a photo backstage as the YouTubers appeared to have patched up their differences, much like their older brothers KSI and Logan Paul.
But then in October of last year, Deji insisted that he would beat Paul in a rematch if they fought now, which caused a back-and-forth between the pair. They were both appearing on the pre-show for the prime card, where their brothers were fighting Tommy Fury and Dillon Danis respectively.
“I already beat your a** and you don’t know s*** about boxing,” Paul told Deji, who replied: “To date I was your hardest fight, I bloodied your face. I would absolutely destroy him if we fought again, I would beat him and I know that I would.”
Paul dismissed the concept of the pair ever fighting again, declaring that they would ‘absolutely not’ ever step in the ring together for a rematch. “This is why I didn’t want to come here tonight,” he declared. “Because all of these little people that I already beat and dusted up are making their name off me.”
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