The bout between KSI and FaZe Temperrr underlines the phenomenon’s growing popularity and poses questions for the sport itself
Photograph: Joseph Okpako/WireImagePhotograph: Joseph Okpako/WireImagehe fighters circle each other uncertainly, a little skittishly, pawing at fresh air, loosening their limbs, feeling the spring and thud of the canvas under their boots. It takes them around 15 seconds to get bored of that and start swinging at each other.
And, you know, maybe it is. Perhaps the most arresting aspect of influencer boxing – a relatively recent phenomenon in which social media stars slap each other around for a couple of minutes to frankly astonishing audience numbers – is how keen it is to cloak itself in the togs of “proper sport”. There are actual commentators saying actual boxing things. After his victory KSI gets handed a belt for an entirely made-up title.
The first thing to point out is that by all accounts the audience for celebrity boxing is quite different to the audience for traditional boxing. By and large they skew younger, follow stars rather than the sport itself, pay scant attention to The Ring lineages or the writing of George Plimpton. You’re probably not going to see them at York Hall on a Friday night.
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