For the Love of Boxing

The Third of February Twenty Eighteen.

The day my spark for boxing began. It was not because of Lawrence Okolie at the O2 or Murat Gassiev in his unification fight against Yuniel Dorticos; the only boxing event on that day that I cared about was KSI vs Joe Weller. The long-anticipated spectacle shut down the internet, KSI won and Weller took his defeat as gracefully as one possibly could. For me, this moment represented a lot more than a YouTube event. The dedication I witnessed from KSI, Weller and particularly AnesonGib in documentaries leading up to their fights presented a fraction of what it took to be a boxer. This fraction was like a keyhole, and all I wanted to do was open the door.

The next time this door began to open was on the fifth of May; Tony Bellew vs David Haye 2 was the main event. This rematch was the first traditional boxing event I remember wanting to watch. This was after watching True Geordie and Laurence Mckenna’s interview with Tony Bellew. This interview made Bellew the first professional boxer I became invested in. His dedication and commitment to the sport after falling at the final hurdle twice to then finally become the WBC world champion at the home of his boyhood club, Everton. I have lost count of the amount of times I have re-watched his win over Ilunga Makabu at Goodison Park.

Whilst I had a spark for professional boxing the next fight I had in my mind was the BIG one, KSI Vs Logan Paul. Champion vs Challenger, UK vs USA, YouTuber vs YouTuber. The critics had spoken, the press conferences had attracted the eyes of the mainstream media, the Manchester Arena was sold out and 1.3million people had bought the pay per view. Of course, I was one of them. The whole event was a lot more professional than the last and a lot closer to what I imagined a full boxing card to be like. The two stand out fights of the night were AnesonGib vs Jay Swingler, an all-out war between two fighters giving everything they could to win, and the main event. Both KSI and Logan were attempting to be more tactical, taking more of a boxing approach. What a night.

Now for the fight that cemented my love for boxing: Oleksandr Usyk Vs Tony Bellew. The undisputed cruiserweight champion vs the former WBC world champion. For the first time ever, all of the belts would be on the line in the UK. Bellew was boxing excellently but then, what some thought was inevitable happened, Usyk landed a brutal knockout in the eighth. Despite the loss, what a performance by Bellew. Three rounds up on one of the score-cards against a contender for pound for pound number one in the sport. A true ambassador for boxing.

Fast forward a year and I was buying tickets to two of the biggest boxing events to be held in the UK in 2019. Dillan Whyte vs Oscar Rivas for the WBC Interim title and Vasyl Lomachenko vs Luke Campbell for the WBA, WBC and WBO belts. On reflection, I can tell you that the environment you are in is different to any other sporting event. Whether that be Wimbledon, the Olympics or any football game I have attended. You can attend these events and it is very difficult to see the athletes up close, let alone meet and have conversations with them. On both boxing occasions my dad, brother and I arrived early and walked around the O2 to waste a little time before we were allowed into the arena. During this period, we ran into Joshua Buatsi, Paulie Mallignaggi, Dave Coldwell, Eddie Hearn, Anthony Crolla, David Diamante and Kugan Cassius. Former world champions, future world champions, world-class trainers, promoters, legendary ring MCs and the face of boxing media all took their time to talk to me and my brother despite almost all of them doing some form of work for Sky Sports that night. Everyone was so humble and welcoming; these were not just 30-second photo opportunities, they were five-to-ten-minute conversations about the particular fight night and future fights.

As mentioned, it is a lot harder to get this level of personal engagement with the professionals within football for example. I agree that the environment is changing with the likes of Marcus Rashford, Jadon Sancho and Todd Cantwell, to name a few, who clearly do more to engage with people even outside of football. From my experience, engagement, at events, is more explicit within boxing than it is football.

It is fair to say, after these two events, I was hooked. Watching fight night after fight night, scoring Lewis Ritson vs Robbie Davies Jr, to disagreeing with the decision between Zak Chelli and Jack Cullen, being amazed by the class of Terri Harper winning the WBC world title against Eva Wahlstrom and my brother and I shouting in celebration through Facetime after Anthony Joshua won his belts back against Andy Ruiz Jr. With every fight night that passed I was learning more and more, becoming increasingly invested; even being a little jealous of my brother meeting and talking to Josh Taylor, and then trainer Shane McGuigan, before the Scot’s unification fight against Regis Prograis.

These fight nights were huge but there was one that I was waiting for, back to where it all started, KSI vs Logan Paul… The Rematch. Ten-ounce gloves, no heard guards, world championship boxing on the undercard (Eddie Hearn really sold me this one, didn’t he?). This time the reason I began watching boxing was combined with the reason I continued to watch boxing and what an event it was. The journey from the Copper Box to the Staples Centre, from amateur to professional. Two YouTubers training as professional boxers. You would think one of the largest subscribed boxing events ever would have been seen as a positive for boxing with more exposure of the sport to a new audience and both KSI and Logan presenting the dedication and commitment it takes going into a fight? I will let the debate continue on this one.

YouTube boxing is how my interest in boxing began, not with KSI vs Logan Paul 2 but with KSI vs Joe Weller. Their dedication and commitment to their fight sparked an interest in a sport that without it, I doubt I would be invested in boxing as much as I am today. I am glad that it happened.

For the love of boxing.