There were wins for Logan Paul and Tommy Fury on a night of crossover boxing that did little to convince sceptics.
Misfits X Series was billed as the biggest occasion in influencer boxing to date, but all the hype and promise swiftly faded as an evening marred by controversies and bizarre altercations unfolded in front of fans in Manchester.
In the co-main event, Logan Paul dominated a lamentable Dillon Danis, who threw little to no punches in response to Paul’s constant flurries.
The fight took a bizarre twist in the 3rd round as Danis dropped to the floor and pulled guard, forcing the referee to intervene and issue a stern warning.
But unfortunately, Danis didn’t heed his words. The mixed martial artist shot for a takedown later in the fight, which Paul managed to dodge, before again failing with a guillotine choke in the dying seconds.
His attempts to take the fight back to his roots sparked furious scenes. Paul responded with a hammer punch while Danis lay sprawled on the floor and a mass brawl involving both fighters’ camps ensued.
Despite his farcical antics Danis did nothing to back up his months of trash-talking, and had he not been disqualified would have been comfortably beaten on the scorecards.
Speaking after the debacle, Paul said: “He’s supposed to be good at jiu-jitsu, what happened? I stuffed the takedown, he tried to do a guillotine. I’m sorry it ended that way y’all, Dillon Danis truly is a coward, just a dirty, dirty human being.”
Once the dust had settled KSI and Fury rallied the spectators’ spirits with flamboyant ring walks. KSI pulled up in a Lamborghini before bringing out legendary UK rapper Giggs to soundtrack his arrival.
Both fighters had promised to knock each other out in what was a dramatic buildup but neither landed much of substance over the course of the six rounds.
KSI had the better of the opening exchanges and received further encouragement when Fury had a point deducted for repeatedly landing shots to the back of his head in the clinch.
However, as the fight progressed the YouTuber seemed intent on landing the same swinging right hand that Fury had criticised in so many interviews.
Nevertheless, Fury failed to get to grips with KSI’s jagged style and repeatedly missed the mark with jabs of his own.
Despite the former Love Islander’s attempts to find his range, there was more clinching than boxing, and the ugly encounter came to a close with neither fighter taking any real damage.
One scorecard has the fight even at 57-57 while the other two judges saw it in favour of Fury – despite the deduction – with marks of 57-56.
The announcement led to vastly contrasting reactions inside the arena. Fury, alongside his half-brother, Tyson, jumped for joy while KSI was left furious.
After Fury finished what was quite a telling interview KSI confronted him and claimed he was ‘robbed’ of a win.
Explaining his reaction, a still bubbling KSI said: “The Fury name, obviously he’s a pro boxer if I won it’s a mockery for the sport. That’s how they (the judges) see it.
“I won it, bro. I got robbed, it’s outrageous.”
Speaking to IFL TV, Fury said: “Was it my best performance? No, absolutely not, but we knew it was gonna be a stinkfest because he didn’t want to come to fight.
“This guy was hopping up and down and didn’t wanna engage. It was a horrible fight… On a s*** performance, I’ve still come out with the win. I wanna thank the judges for scoring it evenly.”
Asked whether he’d offer KSI a rematch, he added: “He goes his way, I go mine. I’m done with all this s***, all this crossover s***. I’m onto my next challenge now. I’m done with the bulls***, f*** the bulls***.”
