Youtuber KSI has just walked back his previous statement that he could dominate Hafthor Björnsson in boxing.
KSI is one of the biggest YouTubers in the world. Olajide Olayinka Williams “JJ” Olatunji, aka “KSI” has over 34 million subscribers and over 8 billion video views across his two YouTube channels.
“JJ” has also tried his hand at boxing before. Youtube sensation has had one amateur bout and one professional, both against fellow Youtuber Logan Paul. KSI boxed Paul to a draw during their first clash and beat him by decision in the second one.
A couple of weeks ago, KSI reacted to the boxing match between Hafthor Björnsson and Eddie Hall. According to the Youtuber, he could easily take the winner, Björnsson, in boxing.
Despite being nine inches shorter and over 140lbs lighter, KSI believes that Björnsson would be too slow for him in the ring.
When asked if he could win in boxing against the man who portrayed “The Mountain” in the HBO series Game of Thrones, KSI said: “Yes, bro, he’d be slow.”
“You have to be fast, in and out, in and out. It’s one of those things because he’s slow, while he’s recharging to strike, you can hit him.”
In response to the Youtuber, Björnsson stated that he is not sure if KSI is serious about facing him.
“Interesting,” Björnsson posted on his Instagram reacting to KSI’s callout. “I wonder if he truly believes he can beat me or if he’s just fooling around. What do you guys think?”
After KSI’s statement went viral, he appeared to backtrack on it.
In a YouTube video, “JJ” declared that Björnsson would in fact win against him, given his significant weight and height advantage.
He said: “I’ve already said on Sidecast that I take it back, okay? F***ing hell.”
“No one shows that bit, no one shows the part of me understanding the actual idea of fighting Thor and realizing that he’s just too big for me. He just weighs too much, I would never be able to be at Titanweight. Like f***ing hell, me being at 100kg [220lb] was ridiculous, I felt like s**t. So he’s what, 150-160kg? Nah, bro.”
Now, KSI’s former coach and professional boxer Riley Viddal added to the controversy by stating that the Youtuber would in fact be able to take the giant in the ring.
Viddal has experience boxing giants. The British boxer was one of the sparring partners for Björnsson’s last opponent, Eddie Hall.
He said during a YouTube video : “There is no reason why JJ [KSI] can’t get in the ring, pick, pull, pick, pull and just move, move, move. You’ve seen me do it with Eddie Hall, it can be done and there’s evidence of that with me sparring Eddie. I’m not saying that JJ is me, but I’m saying it can be done.”
To the surprise of most, Viddal actually believes that KSI would need to lose weight in order to face the 335lbs giant in the ring.
He added: “152kg Thor weighs, he’s 6’9″. JJ is 5’11” you could squeeze and say six-foot, he’s 5’11 and 90kg, but I believe his best performances would be south of 85kg. For him to be able to perform how he would need to against Thor and successfully get the dub, he would need to be lighter, not heavier.
“Thor is not going to go down more than he has already. Will the fight happen? No, I don’t think so but it would be big, huge. It would be much bigger than me sparring Eddie Hall and that was big.”