KSI vs Tommy Fury press conference LIVE: Event descends into chaos as Paul and Danis nearly come to blows
The press conference for KSI vs Tommy Fury and Logan Paul vs Dillon Danis fell apart amid chaotic scenes on Tuesday, as tables were flipped, cake was thrown, and vulgar insults were traded.
YouTube stars KSI and Paul – who are business partners at the energy-drink company Prime – will fight Fury and Danis respectively in October, with both boxing matches taking place at London’s Wembley Arena.
KSI (real name Olajide Olatunji) last fought in May, seeing his controversial knockout of Joe Fournier overturned for the use of an illegal elbow. Meanwhile, Fury – half-brother of heavyweight boxing champion Tyson – beat Paul’s brother Jake on points in February. Logan Paul has mainly been involved in the WWE in recent months, though he has experience boxing, having fought Floyd Mayweather two years ago, while Danis is a former teammate of UFC icon Conor McGregor and is predominantly a jiu-jitsu specialist. He will make his boxing debut when he fights Paul.
And the four figures engaged in a chaotic press conference in London on Tuesday. Re-live updates from the press conference, below.
KSI vs Tommy Fury press conference LIVE
YouTube star KSI boxes Tommy Fury – half-brother of Tyson – in October
Logan Paul also in action on same night, as YouTuber fights Dillon Danis
Danis is ex-teammate of UFC icon Conor McGregor, and makes boxing debut vs Paul
All four took part in chaotic press conference in London on Tuesday
John Fury kicked over table after hurling items through room
Paul threw cake – in shape of Danis – at the MMA fighter
Paul vs Danis face-off cancelled after KSI shoves Fury
KSI vs Tommy Fury press conference LIVE
Tuesday 22 August 2023 17:19 , Alex Pattle
That’s all from the press conference – here’s a round-up of everything that happened...
KSI vs Tommy Fury press conference features flipped tables and thrown cake
KSI vs Tommy Fury press conference LIVE
Tuesday 22 August 2023 17:11 , Alex Pattle
That was... a lot, as the kids say.
Many boxing fans, who already hate this side of the sport, will have detested those scenes.
Others will have lapped them up.
Either way, these fights are going to draw huge viewing figures.
KSI vs Tommy Fury press conference LIVE
Tuesday 22 August 2023 17:02 , Alex Pattle
KSI vs Tommy Fury press conference LIVE
Tuesday 22 August 2023 17:01 , Alex Pattle
Boos ring out as it’s announced that Paul and Danis will NOT face off.
That’s the right decision, surely.
KSI vs Tommy Fury press conference LIVE
Tuesday 22 August 2023 17:00 , Alex Pattle
We’re still waiting on the Paul vs Danis face-off. I don’t think it’s a good idea, but I doubt that will stop them...
KSI vs Tommy Fury press conference features flipped tables and thrown cake
KSI vs Tommy Fury press conference LIVE
Tuesday 22 August 2023 16:55 , Alex Pattle
KSI and Fury have just had their face-off, and KSI shoved Fury!
It’s kicking off badly.
KSI vs Tommy Fury press conference LIVE
Tuesday 22 August 2023 16:51 , Alex Pattle
KSI vs Tommy Fury press conference LIVE
Tuesday 22 August 2023 16:49 , Alex Pattle
Ex-UFC fighter Mike Perry, who is now a bare-knuckle boxer, is revealed as the back-up fighter in case Danis pulls out.
KSI vs Tommy Fury press conference LIVE
Tuesday 22 August 2023 16:47 , Alex Pattle
Dazn’s Joe Markowski says they may go without tables at future press conference.
“Kinda fun, no one got hurt,” he says.
KSI vs Tommy Fury press conference LIVE
Tuesday 22 August 2023 16:43 , Alex Pattle
Remarkably, they’re going to try to do face-offs in a few moments.
Apparently there’s a “fence” for the Paul vs Danis face-off...
KSI vs Tommy Fury press conference LIVE
Tuesday 22 August 2023 16:40 , Alex Pattle
KSI vs Tommy Fury press conference LIVE
Tuesday 22 August 2023 16:40 , Alex Pattle
KSI vs Tommy Fury press conference LIVE
Tuesday 22 August 2023 16:39 , Alex Pattle
Apparently one of the feet from the Danis cake was launched at the stage during that furore.
A strange sentence.
Now Paul throws the head of the Danis cake at the MMA fighter.
They’re calling time on the event...
KSI vs Tommy Fury press conference LIVE
Tuesday 22 August 2023 16:37 , Alex Pattle
John Fury is starting to get angry, as Paul asks why Tyson Fury is “ducking” Oleksandr Usyk.
Now John Fury starts throwing items and kicking over the table.
AGAIN the fighters are held back.
John Fury is 59 years old – a fact presented without comment.
KSI vs Tommy Fury press conference LIVE
Tuesday 22 August 2023 16:35 , Alex Pattle
It’s all getting very distasteful as Danis taunts Paul over his fiancee.
KSI vs Tommy Fury press conference LIVE
Tuesday 22 August 2023 16:34 , Alex Pattle
Wishing Danis a happy birthday, Paul has a cake delivered to the stage – a cake in the shape and image of Danis laying on his back, knocked out and sporting a bruised face.
On stage, it’s kicking off. Again, the fighters are being held back.
KSI vs Tommy Fury press conference LIVE
Tuesday 22 August 2023 16:32 , Alex Pattle
John Fury tries to start an arm-wrestling contest between KSI and Tommy Fury.
KSI declines, saying he’ll slap Tommy if they get that close together.
“I’ll break you,” Tommy says, before both fighters are held back. “You’re s***ing yourself,” he adds.
KSI vs Tommy Fury press conference LIVE
Tuesday 22 August 2023 16:30 , Alex Pattle
John Fury: “It’s not kindergarten stuff, it’s proper boxing; men are gonna get put to sleep in a few weeks, so let’s talk about how it’s gonna happen!”
KSI says his fight with Fury will be contested at 183lbs and across six rounds.
Fury says he wanted eight rounds, while KSI says he wanted a lower weight.
KSI vs Tommy Fury press conference LIVE
Tuesday 22 August 2023 16:28 , Alex Pattle
Paul is sticking up for KSI as Fury vows to knock out the British YouTube star.
Fury to Paul: “Let me get him out the way, then we’ll talk.”
KSI vs Tommy Fury press conference LIVE
Tuesday 22 August 2023 16:27 , Alex Pattle
Danis on sitting next to Fury, while KSI and Paul sit on the other side of the stage: “Two real fighters against two fake fighters.”
KSI vs Tommy Fury press conference LIVE
Tuesday 22 August 2023 16:26 , Alex Pattle
Tommy Fury, joined by his father John, is next to the stage.
Logan Paul is now on stage, and his back and forth with Danis has already started.
Paul has a poster with him, which has a screensshot from footage of Danis being choked out by a security guard last year.
KSI makes his way to the stage, and he gets the kindest crowd reaction so far.
KSI vs Tommy Fury press conference LIVE
Tuesday 22 August 2023 16:23 , Alex Pattle
Dillon Danis is not only here, he’s the first fighter to the stage!
He launches a couple of bottles of Prime through the air! “It tastes like s***,” he says.
He’s wearing a Toy Story-themed hat, which he claims he will wear when he ‘knocks out’ Logan Paul.
KSI vs Tommy Fury press conference LIVE
Tuesday 22 August 2023 16:20 , Alex Pattle
Promoter Kalle Sauerland says he expects the event in October to break every British pay-per-view record.
KSI vs Tommy Fury press conference LIVE
Tuesday 22 August 2023 16:18 , Alex Pattle
Okay, we’re under way at last!
KSI vs Tommy Fury press conference LIVE
Tuesday 22 August 2023 16:13 , Alex Pattle
Dazn is reporting that the start of the press conference has been delayed...
Fans’ minds will be wandering: What is the reason? Who is to blame? Is Dillon Danis late?
There has been a lot of fear that Danis will pull out of his fight with Paul entirely, following his withdrawal from a planned bout with KSI in January...
KSI vs Tommy Fury press conference LIVE
Tuesday 22 August 2023 16:06 , Alex Pattle
KSI’s last fight was not without its controversy.
The YouTuber’s win against Joe Fournier in May was overturned to a ‘No Decision’, after KSI was ruled to have knocked out his opponent with an elbow.
KSI, 29, dropped Fournier in Round 2 of their exhibition boxing match in London, leaving the 40-year-old ex-boxer unable to beat the referee’s count.
However, replays showed that KSI had dropped Fournier with an elbow, rather than a punch.
KSI admitted that his victory at Wembley Arena was ‘tarnished’, while Fournier soon declared that he would appeal the result, which was ultimately overturned.
More here:
KSI and Joe Fournier react as fight result is overturned
KSI vs Tommy Fury press conference LIVE
Tuesday 22 August 2023 16:00 , Alex Pattle
The press conference should begin any moment now! Don’t go anywhere.
KSI vs Tommy Fury press conference LIVE
Tuesday 22 August 2023 15:55 , Alex Pattle
T-minus five minutes until the press conference is due to begin!
KSI vs Tommy Fury press conference LIVE: Who is KSI?
Tuesday 22 August 2023 15:46 , Alex Pattle
Before KSI, there was Olajide Olatunji – “JJ” for short. Before the YouTuber, gamer, rapper, boxer, promoter and energy drink magnate, there was the affable class clown in Berkhamsted, Hertfordshire.
“I remember we did a production of Sweeney Todd,” one of his schoolmates tells The Independent. “He played the judge, and when he died at the end, he was twitching and doing the worm across the stage. Everyone was in stitches. He was funny, a nice guy – everybody liked him for that. He was popular, but not like, ‘I’m the s***’; he was confident but also a nerdy, endearing, sweet guy.”
With those qualities, JJ was tailor made for YouTube, where he launched his channel ‘KSIOlajideBT’ in 2009 – four years after the platform’s inception. Fifteen years old at the time, JJ quickly garnered a following by filming himself playing Fifa – the famous football video game – at his parents’ house in Watford. His bewitching cackle was a key feature in each upload. “He always had that very distinctive laugh,” his schoolmate recalls. “I remember that. He would laugh at something during morning registration, and the teachers would be like, ‘JJ, please!’”
By the end of 2009, Olatunji had amassed 1,000 subscribers. That number had tripled by the end of 2010, and Olatunji’s growth accelerated at a startling pace in 2011, as he reached 150,000 subscribers, and in 2012, when he crossed the million mark. JJ had become KSI – standing for ‘Knowledge Strength Integrity’ – and he would soon become arguably the most famous YouTuber in Britain.
More on his journey, here:
KSI, from ‘endearing’ class clown to YouTuber who has changed the face of boxing
KSI vs Tommy Fury press conference LIVE: Start time and how to watch
Tuesday 22 August 2023 15:40 , Alex Pattle
KSI also used his “Good Morning Britain” screentime to make an important point about his energy drink, Prime – which he launched alongside Logan Paul.
KSI vs Tommy Fury press conference LIVE
Tuesday 22 August 2023 15:30 , Alex Pattle
There are much better boxers out there who can teach you how to throw a punch, of course, but KSI offered some tips on “Good Morning Britain” today:
KSI vs Tommy Fury press conference LIVE: Start time and how to watch
Tuesday 22 August 2023 15:19 , Alex Pattle
The press conference is set to kick off at 4pm BST and will be streamed across various social-media channels and platforms. This includes KSI’s YouTube channel and the Misfits Boxing YouTube channel.
Aside from live streaming on YouTube, the event will also be available on Dazn, which is a subscription channel available across various TV platforms including Sky. A Dazn subscription is available to purchase here.
The Dazn website has said if you are in Argentina, Chile and Colombia you can download the Dazn app from the Apple App Store or Android Google Play store and then sign up from there to watch the show.
We may earn commission from some of the links in this article, but we never allow this to influence our content. This revenue helps to fund journalism across The Independent.
KSI vs Fury, Logan Paul vs Dillon Danis press conference live: Start time and stream
KSI vs Tommy Fury press conference LIVE
Tuesday 22 August 2023 15:07 , Alex Pattle
KSI and Tommy Fury will face off at a press conference in London today, along with Logan Paul and Dillon Danis.
YouTube stars KSI and Logan Paul – who are business partners at the energy-drink company Prime – will fight Fury and Danis respectively in October, with both boxing matches taking place at London’s Wembley Arena.
KSI (real name Olajide Olatunji) last fought in May, seeing his controversial knockout of Joe Fournier overturned for the use of an illegal elbow. Meanwhile, Fury – half-brother of heavyweight boxing champion Tyson – beat Paul’s brother Jake on points in February.
Logan Paul has mainly been involved in the WWE in recent months, though he has experience boxing (he even fought KSI in 2018 and 2019), having fought Floyd Mayweather two years ago.
Meanwhile, Danis is a former teammate of UFC icon Conor McGregor and is predominantly a jiu-jitsu specialist. He will make his boxing debut when he fights Paul.
