Who is KSI and why is he boxing on Saturday night?

This weekend will mark the first in a series of collaborations between DAZN and Misfits Boxing called the X Series. The inaugural event will be held on Saturday, August 27 at the O2 Arena in London, England. There will be eight fights on the card, with British entertainer KSI competing in two of them. In the opener, he will take on Swarmz (a fellow music collaborator), and he is scheduled to face boxer Luis Pineda in the main event.

KSI’s main schtick is that of a YouTuber and rapper. He is the co-founder of the Sidemen, which is a Youtube group. He is the CEO of Misfits Boxing and played a large part in solidifying this collaboration. KSI has over 24 million followers on his main YouTube account alone. He debuted his first rap album in 2020, and it charted at No. 2 on the UK Albums Chart. His second album debuted at No. 1, and he now has 14 top-40 singles to his credit.

KSI has only competed in three boxing matches in his career, competing in his first two bouts as an amateur — both against fellow YouTubers. In the first, he took on Joe Weller and won by third-round TKO. His second career fight came against Logan Paul, ending in a majority draw.

KSI faced Paul again in his first career professional fight at the Staples Center on November 9, 2019. The second fight went the distance like the first, but KSI came out on top by split decision in the rematch. If KSI makes it to the second match on Saturday against Pineda, it will be against his first opponent who doesn’t have a background in entertainment.

At Sportsbettingdime.com, KSI is the heavy favorite against Swarmz with -1500 odds. KSI remains the favorite for his second scheduled fight, although with lowered odds down to -400 against Pineda at The Sports Daily.