KSI vs. Joe Weller

KSI vs. Joe Weller is an amateur boxing event that was contested between KSI and Joe Weller. The event took place on 3rd February 2018 at Copper Box Arena in London, England. KSI defeated Weller by 3rd round technical knockout (TKO).

Background
On the 2nd August 2017, a video was uploaded to Joe Wellers YouTube channel titled “BOXING MATCH: Joe Weller Vs Malfoy.” In the video Joe Weller and his YouTube co-star Theo “Malfoy” Baker have an amateur boxing match consisting of 3 rounds. Joe Weller won the match on points after putting Malfoy in for 2 standing counts from the referee. Weller made a post on Instagram promoting the Malfoy fight. KSI responded to the post with a comment “Lemme fight the winner haha.” It was then confirmed on 14 August 2017, nearly 2 weeks later on Joe Weller's Twitter that negotiations were underway. Then it was later confirmed that KSI and Weller would have a press conference at KSI’s own YouTube event, “Upload”.

On the 10th September 2017 KSI and Weller had a press conference at Upload at 4:30, which was livestreamed to YouTube via Upload’s channel. As the press conference came to an end they both had a face off. In which KSI taunted Weller about his looks and then remarked “Do you need drugs? Do you need drugs to stay sane?” which was aimed at Weller’s previous mental health and depression issues. Then Weller exclaimed “Imagine 8000 people seeing your head crushed against the canvas, as Weller lifts his hands up!” and then shoulder barges KSI across the stage and causes a struggle between KSI and the friends or "goons" of Joe Weller but they later subdued him. The next day Weller tweeted “Mental health is not a joke”.

True Geordie Interviews
In the leading up to the fight, a YouTube co-star "The True Geordie" uploaded an interview with each fighter.

Fight details
The arena sold out its capacity of 8,000 seats with the average ticket price costing £66. The fight had odds being offered by the majority of mainstream bookies and over £100,000 was bet before the 2nd of February. Ladbrokes' Alex Apati said: "For a fight no one really knows about, and no one can really call, it attracted a lot of interest on the betting front. "According to our books, this fight is more popular with punters than an actual professional bout between two upcoming British fighters." The fight was the largest since Anthony Joshua vs. Wladimir Klitschko in April 2017. Due to Weller's "Rope-a-dope" tactic and the little punches he threw it was speculated the fight was staged. The bout’s promoter, Stuart Jones, insisted the pair’s hatred was genuine, while Harry Hugo, of the Goat marketing agency, said the event pointed to a big shift in the world of entertainment.

Broadcasting
The fight was livestreamed on both KSI and Joe Weller's YouTube channels. The main event began at around 6:45pm GMT. It was viewed by over 1.6 million people online during the stream.

Gear
During all fights on the card, both fighters wore protective headgear due to the inexperience of the fighters. KSI wore custom made boxing gloves with illustrations aimed at Joe Weller including drawings of his "dodgy knee", him being knocked out and a hello kitty, a reference to Weller's song "Kitty".

Belt
KSI is now the current holder of the YouTube Championship belt which was previously vacant. The belt was presented to him by professional boxer Dereck Chisora.

Records
The fight set the record for "The biggest white collar boxing contest ever in the UK".

Mike Fox proposal
After Mike Fox's fight against JMX during the interview with The True Geordie, he proposed to his girlfriend.

Aftermath
After the fight KSI called out ex England captain and aspiring boxer Rio Ferdinand saying "Where's Rio? Where's Rio Ferdinand? I know he's doing his Betfair thing.. if you want some bro, I'm ready." KSI would also called out Logan Paul and Jake Paul.