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Steve KimESPN
LOS ANGELES — In their second fight to resolve their online rivalry, KSI got the better of Logan Paul on Saturday night at Staples Center in Los Angeles.
KSI defeated Paul by split decision, with two judges scored the bout 57-54 and 56-55 for KSI, while a third judge had it 56-55 for Paul.
The two YouTube personalities met in the ring last summer as amateurs in England, with the fight being ruled a majority draw.
Saturday night’s bout didn’t come without controversy. In the fourth round, Paul visibly hurt KSI with a short right uppercut on the inside and then followed with another uppercut that dropped him to the canvas.
However, Paul pinned KSI’s head down as he landed the punch that floored him. Referee Jack Reiss briefly paused the fight and ruled a two-point deduction for Paul. That proved to be critical, as a possible 10-8 round for Paul instead became 8-8 in a huge swing in the scorecards.
The final two rounds mostly saw Paul and KSI throwing wild, flailing punches that oftentimes missed their intended target. While both fought with great passion and effort in an entertaining affair, there wasn’t much in the way of precision in their punches, with KSI landing 56 of 264 (21%) and Paul landing 61 of 220 (28%).
While the final verdict was close and contested, both KSI and Paul seemed to squash their difference as they paid respect to one another and embraced.
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