"They're not taking money off your table" - Former champion delivers a stirring message in defense of KSI and other influencer boxers
Former WBC cruiserweight champion Tony Bellew recently weighed in on the KSI vs. Tommy Fury boxing match and shared his thoughts on the influencer boxing trend as a whole. He slammed the media negativity surrounding influencers boxing each other and explained the positive side of the recent trend.
'JJ' went up against Fury at the Misfits X DAZN: The Prime Card event last weekend. While the English YouTuber started strong and had his moments in the ring, 'TNT' ultimately won the contest via unanimous decision. Given Fury's boxing pedigree, many expected much more from this matchup. However, fans were left sorely disappointed at the mediocre boxing skills displayed by both fighters.
In the aftermath of the event, many criticized the influencer boxing trend for ruining the sport for the younger generation. However, Tony Bellew isn't among those criticizing popular influencers for wanting to box each other on pay-per-view streaming.
In a recent interview with Seconds Out, the 40-year-old Englishman praised KSI for popularizing the sport among kids and said:
"Do you know how many kids these [influencer fights] are attracting to boxing gyms? It's a whole different demographic here, a whole different set of fans... I give them so much credit for that... JJ is a lovely kid."
He continued:
"It's funny how we don't have outrage when celebrities wanna play a game of football... These journalists or even boxers coming out and saying, 'It's a disgrace.' Why is it a disgrace? They're not taking money off your table... I just don't get it at all. Fair play to them."
Catch Bellew's comments below (3:00):
KSI vs. Tommy Fury: 'TNT' slams YouTuber for "robbery" claims
Tommy Fury isn't happy about KSI claiming he was robbed of a victory and recently fired back at the YouTuber for making such claims.
The KSI vs. Fury boxing match was largely uneventful, and both fighters resorted to clinching for most of the contest. After the fight ended, Fury got his hand raised by way of a majority decision, which was later corrected to a unanimous decision after one of the judges made an error while adding up the scores.
In the aftermath, 'JJ' was vocal about his disappointment and slammed the judges for being biased towards the professional boxer. He accused them of robbing him of a win to maintain the integrity of the sport.
Tommy Fury recently lashed out at KSI for being a sore loser. In a post-fight interview on Good Morning Britain, 'TNT' ridiculed the YouTuber's claims and said:
“He can say what he wants, but hugging and doing star jumps in the ring does not win fights. He can go on about how he was robbed, but it was his show, his officials, his judges... Listen, boxing's a fair sport."