Logan Paul vs KSI Odds: A Favorite Emerges in YouTube Boxing “Championship”

• Feuding YouTube stars KSI and Logan Paul are going to quash their beef in a boxing ring in Manchester, England, on August 25th. 
• Though the event will be more spectacle than sport, all the major sportsbooks have odds on who will win the fight. 
• Is KSI favored to go to 2-0 in his boxing career or will the American stun the hostile British crowd? We look at the odds and break down the best bet. 

After just one fight, British internet celebrity KSI (a.k.a. Olajide William Olatunji) already fancies himself the YouTube boxing champion of the world. In February, he stepped in the ring with fellow YouTuber Joe Weller – with whom he had an ongoing feud – and emerged victorious via third-round stoppage.

After the fight, he declared himself the champ and challenged any and all YouTubers to a fight, specifically naming Americans Logan and Jake Paul.

It’s not clear why he chose to call out the Pauls, but that doesn’t matter at this point. The Pauls took the bait and a contract was signed for KSI and older brother, Logan, to duke it out, not once, but twice, with the first fight in Manchester this August, followed by a rematch in the US next February.

KSI and the Paul family have been waging war in their preferred medium ever since, but the tensions grew to an all-time high when Logan and KSI met face to face at a press conference in London recently.

The theatrics and verbal haymakers have done their job, whipping up the hype for a fight between two men who have no business boxing in front of other humans. The public interest reached such heights that almost all of the gambling sites on our top 10 list started offering wagers on who would win.

KSI vs Logan Paul: Fight Preview & Analysis

KSI opened as a big favorite, which is reasonable. He’s the only one with any boxing experience, and he showed decent power and athleticism in his fight with Weller, if not a lot of technical ability. (Skip to the 8:30 mark in the video below for the start of the match.)

He also demonstrated decent stamina. Halfway through the scheduled six rounds, he was still throwing at something close to full power. One thing that amateurs often underestimate is just how tiring an actual boxing match is, often gassing themselves with early barrages. KSI not only came out firing, but was able to sustain the pace, for the most part. That’s huge in this type of fight.

As the Tale of the Tape, below, shows, Paul is going to have a height and weight advantage, something KSI enjoyed in his fight with Weller.

The early training videos Paul posted online didn’t inspire confidence that he’d be able to use his 6’2, 180-pound frame to his advantage. His combinations were laughable and his footwork was nonexistent.

The more recent clips show some improvement, but I have no idea who his plodding opponent is in the following clip. Judging by his lethargy, he might be part tortoise.

Paul’s training videos also give no indication as to his stamina. As the bigger, heavier fighter, he’s liable to tire faster, and endurance is one attribute that we already know KSI possesses, to some extent.

Recognizing that it’s almost impossible to accurately handicap a fight between two men who have a combined eight minutes of previous boxing experience, laying -230 on KSI is the better option here, in my view. Better the devil you know.