KSI retires from boxing after rejecting money-spinning Jake Paul fight offer

KSI insists he is ‘done’ with boxing.

The YouTube star hasn’t stepped between the ropes since suffering the first defeat of his career against Tommy Fury in October 2023, and he won’t do so again after falling out of love with the sport.

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“I think everyone has a bad side, but it’s whether you want to tap into that, and for me, I don’t want to do that,” KSI, real name JJ Olatunji, told the BeerBiceps’ podcast of the pressure to sell fights.

“I felt like I had to when I was boxing. I felt like I had to be ‘The Nightmare’, and with that, to sell a fight, you have to do stuff to get people to want to watch.

“You have to find ways to bring that emotion out of people, and I did some horrible things when I was doing the whole boxing thing.

“But that’s the fight game, and I didn’t enjoy it. I didn’t like it.”

KSI rejected $30m to fight Jake Paul

KSI pioneered the influencer boxing boom in the late 2010s and early 2020s with his two bouts against Logan Paul, which attracted a combined 3.3million PPV buys.

A much-anticipated clash with Logan’s brother, Jake Paul, was expected to follow, but Olatunjis’ decision to hang up his gloves has scuppered those plans for good.

“I didn’t even gain much from the material stuff,” KSI continued.

“My fight with Tommy Fury, all the money I made, I gave it to my trainers.

“All of it. For me, I don’t do stuff for this. I’ve been offered $30 million to fight Jake Paul.

“These guys can’t give me any amount of money to fight this guy. When it comes to boxing, I’m done. I tried.”

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KSI (5-1-1-1 NC) co-founded crossover boxing promotion Misfits in 2022, and competed five times in the space of 14 months under the MFB banner with the view of fighting Paul.

A bout with Fury, who overcame Paul in February 2023, was supposed to be the perfect building block towards the long-awaited contest.

However, disagreements over the catchweight and KSI’s waning interest in boxing meant the fight never got beyond the negotiation table, despite multiple attempts.

“My main goal when I got into the boxing ring again was to fight Jake Paul and build Misfits,” KSI added.

“Build Misfits, try to fight Jake Paul time and time and time again, it’s just excuse after excuse after excuse.

“Instead of Tommy Fury, I was there ready to fight Jake Paul.

“I was ready, I was there, let’s go, and instead he fought Nate Diaz.

“Then at that point, I had to fight Tommy Fury. I think I tried to build up again to try and fight Jake again, and then he was just getting heavier and heavier and heavier trying to move the goal posts when it comes to weight.

“Then it got to the point where it was like, what am I doing? I’m done.”