Jake Paul talks football, boxing and brotherly love
Jake Paul spoke with Mackenzie Salmon about his company’s new fantasy football offering Betr Picks and the trajectory of his boxing career.
Sports Seriously, USA TODAY
Logan Paul defeated Dillon Danis by disqualification when Danis tried to drag him to the mat near the end of the sixth and final round at the AO Arena in Manchester, England on Saturday.
According to ring announcer Michael Buffer, Paul dominated and went into the sixth round having won each of the previous rounds on all judges’ cards.
Danis’ attempted guillotine takedown caused security to flood the boxing ring as the event came to a wild end.
“Dillon Danis is truly a coward,” Paul said in a post-fight interview. “Just a dirty, dirty person. … This camp was so hard. Dealing with a guy like that wasn’t easy. He is a true demon, a true coward.
The fight followed insults, accusations, taunts, swear words and obscenities exchanged by Paul and Danis over the course of the week.
Paul, 28, had survived an eight-round fight with Floyd Mayweather Jr. in 2021. But he only had one other professional fight, which he lost by split decision to YouTuber KSI.
Danis, 30, is a black belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and 2-0 in MMA. But he hadn’t fought since 2019.
A round-by-round analysis of the Tommy Fury-KSI fight and the Paul-Danis fight:
This round is a must-win. Fury lands a solid right. Packed up again. And again. Fury doesn’t create the distance he needs. KSI doesn’t show much aggression. Now he is alive. Mix it up. KSI 57, Fury 56.
Wrapping each other up and arguing. Too close to do any harm. Ref separates the two. Fatigue probably leads to clinches at this point. Constant holding. Tommy Fury butts in and doesn’t give himself any room to connect. Giving away opportunities. I’m not sure if it would be more frustrating to be Fury in the ring or to watch Fury in the ring. KSI 47, Fury 47.
Tied up again, but with beatings. Two fighters, finally separated. Tommy Fury keeps missing shots. It’s not missing much, but it’s still missing. More of the same – punches thrown, not much landing. KSI 38, Fury 37.
KSI seems too elusive for Tommy Fury. They just can’t convert all that power and fury into a clean and impressive punch. And yet he comes. Find KSI’s face. Relies on KSI and uses its weight advantage. KSI throws a wild right kick. Missing. Fighters in a familiar place: a clinch. Fury appears to land a right. KSI 29, Fury 27.
Tommy Fury lands a right. The anger seems to hit KSI in the back of the head again! The referee takes a point from Fury. KSI slams away at Fury’s body. There’s a lot of action here. Fury just can’t find the target. KSI too elusive. Fighters in the clinch again. KSI 20, Fury 17.
Looks like a wrestling match here. But the fighters seem interested in exchanging blows. KSI lands straight right! Yes, Tommy Fury is bigger, but speed could make a difference here. Back in the clinch, but punches are being fired. KSI grabs the back of his head and appears to be in pain. Shot behind the head and looked deliberate. KSI waves his arms. Strange style, but seems to work. Fury struggles to make a connection. KSI 10, Fury 9.
Dillon Danis needs a knockout. What is he waiting for? His flight home? He dives and grabs Paul’s legs. Tries to tie him up. Danis makes a joke out of it. The referee takes away one point. Paul swings away. Danis unloads with his left but misses. Another big left error, another miss. Paul won’t get knocked out, but he’s in control. His prize: a cut under Danis’ eye. Now a wild scene! Security storms the ring after Paul throws Danis into the crowd. Paul tried to hit Danis while he was on the ground. Danis then attempted to pull Paul to the ground and gave chase before security swarmed the ring. An embarrassing attempt and an end for Danis. A reasonably impressive achievement for Paul. The fight ended in a disqualification.
Dillon Danis apparently complains about being hit below the belt. Fans complain about Danis not throwing punches. And then he does it! But nothing lasted. Big swing and miss for Danis. He opens up again, but Paul stands his ground, firing into his opponent’s body and looking like the better boxer. Huge uppercut from Danis but doesn’t come close to landing. Paul 50. Danis 45.
Dillon Danis finally connects! Welcome to the fight! Fighters insult each other. No love is lost here. Danis moves in the ring like he’s in a jiu-jitsu tournament. But maybe he has a surprise for Paul? Paul is less active, but still does far more than Danis. Paul 40, Danis 36.
More of the same. Dillon Danis takes shots on defense with his gloves up. No attempt to attack Paul. Paul is a little less active in this round. Are you tired of throwing all those punches? He targets the body. Danis falls to the mat, raises his legs and taunts Paul. That’s all Danis has shown so far – the ability to provoke, not to hit. Danis finally throws a few punches. Nothing effective. Paul controls what is happening. Paul 30, Daniel 27.
Dillon Danis remains in a defensive position with his hand in front of his face. Logan Paul keeps throwing and dropping his hands. He looks comfortable. Danis shows no plan. Fans boo. Paul lacks fluids but makes up for it with strength and activity. Paul fires, Danis blocks. Danis drops his gloves and spreads his arms as if to say, “Is that all you have?” Here comes Paul! Connect. Danis could be in trouble. Just a volley from Paul. Both boxers look a little excited. Paul 20, Daniel 18.
The fighters meet in the middle of the ring. Logan Paul shoots, but doesn’t hit hard. Dillon Danis ties up Logan. Paul is the attacker. Danis seems to be trying to regain his footing, but so far without success. Paul fires off body punches and hits Danis in the face. Paul drops his hands. Fire punches, still no serious damage. Is Danis trying to let Paul wear himself out? Danis finally unleashes a big left but misses. Paul 10, Daniel 9.
Slim Albaher recovered from a slow start before stopping Nathaniel “Salt Papi” Bustamante with a fourth-round TKO in their middleweight bout.
Bustamante appeared to be luring Albaher in the third round when he dropped his gloves. Albaher seized the moment and soon went on the attack before scoring a TKO at 2:54 of the fourth round. The fight was scheduled for five rounds.
Albaher improved to 7-0 with five KOs.
Logan Paul said he was ready to fight without emotion, even after Dillon Danis hit him with a microphone during a brawl following a press conference on Thursday. Paul called the injury near his left eye “a scratch.”
“I reached a little zen moment last night because he made it so personal and how can you not go in there and want to murder this person,” Logan told Ariel Helwani on the DAZN show. “And the answer is that I forgive him. I forgive Dillon. I’ll just go in there and do my job.’
Tyson Fury, the world heavyweight boxing champion, was on hand to watch his brother Tommy Fury fight KSI. And of course he had a prediction.
“Tommy is going to call this (expletive) cold,” he shouted into a microphone during an onstage interview, sparking cheers in the arena.
Deen the Great scored two knockdowns and then fended off a late barrage of punches to defeat Walid Sharks by unanimous decision in a five-round lightweight bout.
Not only was Sharks knocked down twice in the third round, but he also lost his mouthpiece twice after Great punched him in the face. But Sharks stayed on their feet and seemed to have Great in trouble before the final bell sounded.
The judges scored it 49-44, 49-44 and 48-45.
What, did you think Jake Paul was going to watch the fight on the pay-per-view?
Logan’s little brother arrived at the AO Arena in a black hoodie.
American Anthony Taylor earned a unanimous decision victory over Britain’s King Kenny in a five-round light heavyweight bout.
At the sound of the opening bell, Taylor stormed across the ring and began firing punches at Kenny. He missed many punches throughout the fight that lacked artistry, but remained the aggressor, frustrating Kenny, who lost a point for his holding in the fourth round.
All three judges scored the fight 49-45.
Logan Paul arrives at the AO Arena holding his fiancée Nina Agdal’s hand in his left hand and a banana in his right hand.
Clothing includes a black hat, black jeans and a striped flannel top.
With crisp jabs and combinations, My Mate Nate Whindersson defeated Nunes by unanimous decision in a four-round light heavyweight bout.
Nunez was the stronger fighter, but Nate was the more accurate and skilled. All three judges scored it 40-36.
Danis, who had threatened to pull out of the fight with Logan Paul at least three times, arrived at the AO Arena – Spartan style. He got out of a white vehicle unaccompanied and wearing a sleeveless black T-shirt.
And those characteristic black tones.
A four-round tag team boxing match saw three knockdowns, a series of other heavy blows and two pairs of boxers falling to the mat. The crowd cheered the spectacle that pitted two teams, BDave and Luis Pineda against Nichlmao and Alex Wassabi, but there was no winner.
The judges scored it 39-37, 37-39 and 38-38.
The pay-per-view event, headlined by Logan Paul vs. Dillon Danis and Tommy Fury vs. KSI, begins at 2:00 p.m. ET on Saturday at the AO Arena in Manchester, England. Ring walks for the Paul-Danis fight begin at approximately 5:00 p.m. ET. It is available on DAZN and PPV.com for $54.99.
Paul is a big favorite.
FanDuel did it: Paul (-490) vs. Danis (+400), with odds of +1200 for a draw.
Odds Shark is ahead: Paul (-500) against Danis (+330).
Jake Paul remained relatively quiet during the build-up to the fight between his brother Logan and Dillon Danis. But Jake Paul ended up in the tip pool on Saturday.
“On fight day, my last official prediction for Logan vs. Dillon,” said Jake Paul, “Logan knocks him out in the second round.” “You heard it.”
Logan Paul has also predicted that the fight will end within two rounds.
The undercard contains the following:
- Tommy Fury vs. KSI (Cruiserweight, Co-Mainweight)
- Salt Papi vs. Slim; For the Misfits (Middleweight)
- Deen the Great vs. Walid Sharks (Lightweight)
- King Kenny vs. Anthony Taylor (Heavyweight)
- Whindersson Nunes Batista vs. My Mate Nate (Light Heavyweight)
- Nichlmao & Alex Wassabi vs. Luis Pineda & B Dave (Tag Team)
UFC, OBJ and RBI are among the well-known abbreviations in sports today.
KSI has burst onto the scene as one of pop culture’s biggest headline-makers in recent years. And he is making his way into the sports landscape.
He faces boxer and reality TV star Tommy Fury in a boxing match on Saturday in a co-headlining bout with Logan Paul and MMA star Dillon Danis.
With a reported net worth of $23.9 million, KSI has made a name for himself as one of the most recognizable social media stars of the digital age. He has more than 24 million YouTube subscribers, 13 million Instagram followers, and 11.7 million followers on TikTok, as fans are eager to keep up with his content. As a rapper, he has a No. 1 album in the UK. As a businessman, he owns one of the fastest growing beverage companies in the world.
The 30-year-old was born in London to Nigerian parents. He has a younger brother, Deji, who is also popular on YouTube and has his own boxing career.
KSI is known for his flashy and brash personality. As he grew in popularity, he was criticized for misogynistic content on his YouTube page, and this spring he was called out for using a racial slur in a video, for which he apologized. –Victoria Hernandez
KSI and Logan Paul were bitter enemies in the late 2010s and fought each other in a boxing match in 2018. The first duel ended in a draw, but KSI won the rematch in 2019.
The enemies-turned-friends now own PRIME, a beverage competitor to Gatorade and Powerade. They introduced the drink in 2022, promoting it as a healthier alternative with less sugar.
PRIME comes in fun flavors like Ice Pop, reminiscent of Bomb Pop popsicles, and the newly released Glowberry. –Victoria Hernandez
Dillon Danis will enter the boxing ring without any previous experience, but with the element of surprise. Outside of sparring sessions, no one has seen what he can do.
“How do you prepare for a guy like Dillon Danis?,” Milton Lacroix, Logan Paul’s coach, said during an interview with USA TODAY Sports. “You just have to beat him immediately.
“Hit him on the nose real quick and let tears come to his eyes. “He will realize that he is in a real battle and that he cannot defeat us.”
Under normal circumstances, Danis, an MMA fighter, might try to knock his opponent to the ground. But that is forbidden in the boxing ring.
“No elbows, no chokeouts,” Lacroix said. “He has to get up.”
Logan Paul is less experienced and accomplished than his brother Jake, who has a record of 7-1 as a professional boxer with four knockouts. But Logan survived eight rounds with Floyd Mayweather Jr. in his last fight on June 6, 2021.
Paul defeated Mayweather early in the fight before the Hall-of-Famer regained control despite being six inches shorter and more than 30 pounds lighter.
In his only previous fights, Paul fought to a majority draw against social media influencer KSI in 2018 and lost the rematch the following year via split decision.
Danis is undefeated in mixed martial arts. Which is a little less impressive considering he only had two professional fights. He scored first-round victories in two Bellator fights – by toehold against Kyle Walker in 2018 and by armbar against Max Humphreys in 2019.
Music mogul Drake has bet $850,000 that Logan Paul will take out Dillon Danis.
The bet slip was posted to Drake’s Instagram page on Thursday and shows the payout would be $1,351,000. The accompanying comment reads: “Never bet against personal revenge and settling scores.”
Paul responded via X, formerly known as Twitter: “Easy money.”
Drake’s bet caught the attention of Danis, the MMA fighter who will be making his boxing debut. He posted a picture of the bet slip on X with the caption: “850 on my head is disrespectful.”
Logan Paul said he will fight Dillon Danis as planned on Saturday, despite being bloodied on Thursday when Danis hit him in the face with a microphone after a scuffle broke out during a press conference.
“Dillon can’t escape me,” Paul posted
Paul’s trainer had previously said the YouTube star had suffered an eye injury that could jeopardize the fight, which was scheduled for six rounds.
“Right now we’re going through hell,” Milton Lacroix, Paul’s coach, told USA TODAY Sports during a phone interview. “He was hit in the face. He has a cut on his eye. At the moment I’m just looking for someone. There may not be a fight.”
But the CEO of the company that promotes boxing later said Paul was “still ready to fight.”
“Logan is good,” Misfits Boxing CEO Olajide Olatunji told reporters. “I visited him. He’s fine. He is still ready to fight. If anything, he’s very angry and can’t wait to get his hands on Dillon.”
Olatunji, better known as KSI and fighting in the co-main event, described Paul’s injury as a “bump.”
The feud between Paul and Danis leading up to the fight has turned nasty as Danis posted sexually explicit photos of Paul’s fiancée Nina Agdal online.
Agdal filed a lawsuit last month accusing Danis of a “relentless, ongoing campaign of cyber harassment and bullying against her,” which included the “unlawful publication of non-consensual, sexually explicit photos of her on the Internet without her consent.” .
If you’re waiting for 24-year-old Fury to become his half-brother Tyson’s second, prepare to wait for eternity. He had the looks to land himself a place on the dating reality show Love Island. But here’s the real reality: In the ring, he barely resembles Tyson Fury, the reigning heavyweight champion.
Tommy Fury (9-0, four KOs) gained some credibility with his split decision win over Paul. The win was a display of some legitimate boxing ability. Admittedly, against a YouTube star.
KSI has a 4-0 record with one no-contest coming in March when KSI knocked businessman Joe Fournier unconscious with an illegal elbow strike to the face.
His boxing career began in 2017 with two amateur fights. This included a majority decision against Logan Paul. The two met again in 2019 and in a professional fight, KSI prevailed by split decision.
This was followed by a second-round knockout against Swarmz, an English rapper; a first-round knockout against FaZe Temperrr, an English YouTuber; and the non-contest against Fournier.
KSI has announced that he will wear the most expensive mouth guard in boxing history. According to Talksport, it is set with diamonds (four carats) and contains a 24-carat gold leaf.
The estimated price is $50,000, according to Chron.
The manufacturer SafeJawz offers mouth guards for just $11 (without diamonds or gold).