KSI may be partners with his brother, but don’t expect him to be friends with Jake Paul anytime soon.
Primarily a YouTuber and rapper, KSI has spent much of the past few years building up the emerging influencer boxing scene that he helped create. In that time, he has repeatedly butted heads with Jake Paul, generally on the topic of who would win in a fight. But, as KSI explained to Ariel Helwani on The MMA Hour, it’s not just about ego; he also just doesn’t like the man.
” I don’t know why we have so much hatred for each other over the years,” KSI stated. There are many reasons I think, but I don’t dwell on them until the time is right, so it’s hard to know.
” I think it’s his ego. It’s one of the ones where he thinks he’s better than me, I think he’s trash, and I believe — I know everyone else doesn’t believe, and a lot of people believe that he’s going to destroy me, but I know what I am, and I know what I’ve done training wise, and I know I would smoke Jake. But I kind of need to show everyone what I know. People will believe I am about it when I fight people like Temperrr and Woodley.
“We just don’t see eye to eye,” he continued. “I just think he’s a d***head. I just don’t think he’s a good person. I know he’s got friends, I know he’s got a lot of people that like him, but there’s a lot of people that hate him, and I’m one of them. He’s not my type. I just don’t like everything about him. And I feel like he also tries to s*** on everything that I have done, or that I have worked hard for. When I look at him I go, ‘Compared to what you’ve done, to me, you are not on my level, but I’m still going to show you.’ Someone who is devoting all their time into boxing, I can still come from all my music tours, all my YouTube videos, all my Sidemen videos, whatever, my Prime, etc., I can come into your realm and still knock you out.”
As the two biggest names in influencer boxing, it seems inevitable that at some point, KSI and the younger Paul will finally settle their differences in the cage. KSI believes this is his ultimate goal, but he also says that it will take a lot of work to make that happen.
” We’re still working on it,” KSI stated. “We’re looking like November, December. It’s likely to involve a lot of back-and-forth negotiations. Who is the A-side, size of the ring, what’s the weight, or what’s the purse? It will be shown on DAZN or Showtime. These things are a bit of back-and forth. This is one of those situations where there’s a lot of back and forth. I just want to knock out Temperrr, knock out my next opponent, and finally get to Jake.”
Things got a little more difficult recently for KSI vs. Paul bookings: Paul signed an MMA contract with the PFL. While the deal does not figure to actually restrict Paul from pursuing his boxing interests, it does add another layer of complexity to negotiations, particularly if Paul’s time becomes wrapped up in MMA. But KSI is skeptical about his rival’s commitment to the PFL and MMA.
“If I’m truly being honest, I feel like he feels he needs to have a stake in something, because he sees what I’m doing with Prime and he’s seeing Misfits, he sees that I’ve got so many baskets, and he’s just there like, ‘I just box and that’s it,'” KSI said. “So I feel like he wanted to just have a stake in something to be like, ‘I have a percentage in something.’
” Will he actually be fighting MMA? I’ll probably say he won’t, but he’ll probably try to prove me wrong. But he’ll fight some scrub, who doesn’t know how to punch and grapples terribly. He’ll probably fight, who was that wrestler that did terribly in the UFC? [CM Punk]. He will probably fight with someone similar to him.”
KSI believes that he and Paul will finally get along their differences. KSI is not surprised by the fact that the British YouTuber insists he will surprise the world and “flatline” Paul. It might then be on to the next level.
” I was wondering, after having flatlined Jake, what it would be like to take on the king, [Conor McGregor]?” KSI. “I have faith in myself that I believe I can conquer anyone. …
” You never know. But I’m always down. If it makes sense and it really excites me, and if I’m there — for me, legacy is my word. … It’s the reason why I do everything. So if I’m there like, ‘Yo, this would be crazy for my legacy!’ But it’s not like I want to just fight and get money. No. Bro., I would love to win and fight. Because that is special. Cool, taking part is dope, but winning?
Source: https://www.mmafighting.com/2023/1/14/23547178/ksi-explains-why-he-hates-jake-paul-i-just-think-hes-a-d-head?rand=96749
