Battle of Youtube stars is a stain on noble art
The 20million views for a bout between video gamers could drag boxing into gutter, writes Daniel Schofield
Their fight ranks as the biggest in the UK since Joshua defeated Klitschko
End times are coming. The stock markets are crashing, the ice caps are melting at record levels and the most watched British sporting event last week was a fight between two vloggers.
Not the Six Nations with all its wonderful passion and skill, not the madcap finish to Liverpool v Tottenham at Anfield, but a recreation of a dust-up outside a Newport kebab shop between KSI (not his real name) and Joe Weller. At the time of writing, their fight had attracted more than 20million views on Youtube as well as attracting thousands of actual paying punters to a sold-out Copper Box Arena on Saturday night.
While I hesitate to bracket their fight with the noble art of boxing, the bout ranks as the biggest in the United Kingdom since Anthony Joshua defeated Wladimir Klitschko. Spoiler alert: KSI won with a thirdround stoppage.
So, how did this come to pass? How in a country possessing eight current world champions are a pair of vloggers a bigger box-office attraction? And what, pray, is a vlogger?
A vlogger is not a Russian carpenter but a Youtube commentator. Inexplicably, this is a massive thing and if you are from a generation that never saw the point of playing computer games then strap yourself into a sturdy chair and pour yourself a glass of something strong.
Both KSI, who has 18million subscribers to his channel, and Weller, who has 4½million, built their fame by posting videos of themselves playing computer games. Again, these attract millions of views, which makes them thousands of pounds.
Apparently, KSI and Weller were once part of the same group, but fell out when KSI decided to go it alone. This led to a series of back-and-forth “diss” videos. Inevitably, this produced an offer and acceptance of a fight.
Inconsequential nonsense? Yes and no. The number of views their fight has garnered shows that controversy and personal investment matters far more to some, particularly millennials, than the craft involved in the sweet science.
Boxing, of course, has been going down this path itself for some time. KSI’S threat that “I am going to kill you in that ring” has been repeated many times before by Dereck Chisora, David Haye and Tyson Fury.
If fights can be sold exclusively on real or manufactured “beef ”, then ringcraft becomes redundant. You would never get celebrities attempting to become professional footballers or rugby players, but so many people believe they can become a boxer.
If Andrew Flintoff and now Rio Ferdinand can, then why not vloggers? The real danger for boxing is that in its race to the gutter, it finds itself having to compete with the real sewer rats that lurk there. Even if KSI would be destroyed in the ring by a half-competent amateur boxer, he is far more skilled on a microphone than a Haye or a Chisora and this is now the more valuable commodity.
KSI has already challenged Ferdinand and another vlogger, Logan Paul, who posted a video which showed the body of an apparent suicide victim in Japan. The mind boggles.
Either fight is likely to be an even bigger event. Boxing promoters then have the choice of trying to compete with this type of pseudo-controversy and hysterical squawking or focus on the technique and courage of its competitors. Don’t hold your breath about which direction they will take.