KSI lived up to his promise to fight twice in the same night as he picked up a pair of knockouts in his return to the ring.
The YouTube celebrity, who previously faced Logan Paul in back-to-back fights, made quick work of late notice opponent Swarmz before doing much the same to 2-5 professional boxer Luis Alcaraz Pineda in the main event of the KSI: 2 Fights, 1 Night card from London, England.
“Ladies and gentlemen, are you not entertained?” KSI shouted to a packed house at the 02 Arena. “Two fights, one night, two KO’s. I talked the talk and I walked the walk.”
Following his win, KSI made several callouts for potential future opposition with plans to hopefully fight again in January.
“Slim [Albaher] looks good, I want a piece of that,” KSI said about another fighter on the same card. “Austin [McBroom] vs. AnEson Gib, I want the winner of that. Andrew Tate, I want a piece of that. Tommy Fury, I want a piece of that. I’m warmed up and I’m excited. Nothing can harm me.”
Of course the one name missing was Jake Paul, who had tried to land the fight with KSI after his original opponent fell out due to injury.
It turns out that wasn’t a mistake as KSI admitted he needed more time and experience before clashing with Paul.
“Legit, there’s so many people I need to go through before I get to Jake,” KSI said. “Jake is definitely the main goal but soon come. Just getting my work in, getting my rounds in.”
The highlight of the night was supposed to be KSI facing a professional boxer — a specific goal he had in mind to show up Paul, who has yet to clash with any opponent with prior boxing experience. It turns out Pineda qualified based on seven professional fights but he didn’t exactly show much in the ring.
KSI landed several knockdowns before finally planting Pineda on the mat with a punch at 50 seconds into the third round to earn the victory. It was his second knockout of the night after he did the same to Swarmz, who accepted the bout without any prior fight experience and only two weeks to train for the card.
The second fight played out in somewhat bizarre fashion after KSI came out gunning for the finish, which led to a knockdown after several hard shots to the body and an overhand right that put Pineda down to the ground. Immediately afterwards, Pineda complained that the punch that put him down went to the back of the head.
KSI followed with another stinging punch that dropped Pineda but once again the Mexican born fighter was calling to the referee about getting hit behind the head. Replays showed that the punch that clipped him was to the side of the head but Pineda was still not happy with the way the fight was going.
It was more of the same throughout the first round with Pineda constantly pointing to the back of his head as he attempted to get the referee to intervene but the fight continued.
As the second round got underway, KSI connected with another overhand right that bounced off the top of the head and put Pineda down. It appeared that would be the beginning of the end. Pineda kept moving while trying to avoid KSI before another knockdown followed but once again he was allowed to continue.
KSI continued his offensive assault until Pineda hit the deck yet again and that was enough for the referee to wave off the fight before any further damage was done.
Earlier in the night, KSI did much the same to Swarmz, who looked like a fish out of water as he laced up his gloves yet only threw a few haymakers in an attempt to pull off the massive upset.
It was clear from the start that Swarmz had no idea what he was doing in the ring as he constantly circled away — actually turning his back and running at points during the opening round — as KSI pursued him. KSI managed an early knockdown after finally trapping Swarmz against the ropes and unleashing a flurry of punches.
KSI cracked Swarmz with a number of hard punches throughout the fight but he also spent a lot of time chasing the British hip-hop artist around the ring as he attempted engage in some exchnages with him.
Mercifully, KSI put an end to the fight with a left uppercut that popped Swarmz and put him down on the canvas. While it appeared Swarmz could continue, he stayed on the canvas until the referee waived off the fight with the end coming at just 28 seconds in the second round.
KSI now has four bouts under his belt with plans to stay even busier in 2023, although it remains to be seen if he’ll ever set up the showdown with Paul in the future.
