The real winner of the Internet's biggest boxing match: Ethan Payne



On November 9th internet juggernauts KSI and Logan Paul fought in six round boxing match in which one point difference made KSI, real name Olajide Olatunji, victorious.

Along with an unpredicted result, as both fighters anticipated knockouts, what was also surprising was the way mainstream media embraced the online world. Mainstream media seems to be embracing online content more in terms of entertainment as American late night TV shows have are often on YouTube's trending page. However, the relationship between the social media and mainstream worlds isn't as strong in regards to sport.

KSI standing victorious after beating Logan Paul on November 9th.
But for #KSIvsLoganPaul2 many mainstream outlets wanted to be a part of it. One of the main platforms that did this was Sky Sports Boxing. Not only was the fight made available on box office but also the London press conference was live streamed and was followed by many interviews from British social media stars in KSI’s corner. Sky continued their partnership with online world by announcing that their commentary team for the fight include Saturday Social’s Adam Smith and YouTubersJoe Weller, Aneson Gib or Ali.

Weller and Gib aren't strangers to the boxing world, having been in main event and undercard fights respectively but unexpected commentary from Ethan ‘Behzinga’ Payne took the commentary spotlight.

Although not formally announced Ethan Payne did become a pundit for Sky Sports Boxing, giving his take on the fight and contributing to interviews on Sky Sports Boxing’s YouTube channel. Payne ultimately joined the commentary team ringside on November 9th.

A clear boxing fan, Payne consistently gave eloquent analysis of the both fighters boxing techniques. Giving his insight on various sports channels YouTube page including BBC Sports and iFL TV his boxing knowledge stood out and seemed to be well received by both dedicated and casual boxing fans. It was clear to fans as well as his peers that Payne was in his element. 

Photo of Ethan Payne commentating with Sky Sports Boxing
 from Payne's Instagram account.


Ethan’s punditry showed him to be multifaceted as he seemed to excel in both this and he has been successful on YouTube for some years now and even currently having 3.26 million subscribers. This as result reflects well on the rest of the online community and was arguably crucial during an event that upset boxing fans as it gave a pair of YouTubers the main event and left stars like Billy Joel Saunders and Devin on the undercard. The commentary from Payne as well as Weller and Gib seems to be the first stone to bridge the gap between online and traditional media platforms.


With calls from fans for Ethan to continue his relationship with Sky Sports it’s clear that he won the public over and rightfully so. Even if Logan Paul does contest the two points he lost in the match, what will remain undeniable is the valued input Ethan Payne gave to the Internet's biggest boxing match.  

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Rock is the Worst Actor from the WWE

Image
Despite the joint second highest paid actor of 2019 being Dwayne “the Rock” Johnson, the question remains if WWE superstars can successfully change paths and become great actors. I originally was going to discuss the idea that Dwayne Johnson’s acting career has been inferior to that of his former WWE colleague Dave Bautista’s , who is appearing in more films as of late, as I have found some of Bautista’s performances in films such as Guardians of the Galaxy (2014) to be much more enjoyable than The Rock’s blockbuster films like Central Intelligence (2016) . However; although Bautista has vocalised his desire to be an actor as opposed to just a movie star, both men are stuck in the roles of the muscular and powerful characters that they were in the WWE. Dave Bautista in his role as Drax, from the  Marvel Universe Johnson and Bautista have upcoming summer releases, Hobbs & Shaw and My Spy respectively, which see them taking on roles of “badass” government op
Read more

A Chris Brown appreciation post

Image
Something I think about a lot is how amazing Chris Brown’s music and the different parts that make it great. Photograph of Chris Brown mid performance, taken by Prince Williams The main reason that I appreciate his music is because he seems to make music just for the sake of it. The length of his albums alone shows how much he loves to create music with his last two, Heartbreak on the Full Moon and Indigo , being long enough to be considered double albums. Although, I would prefer short and more succinct albums, he’s able to create songs that everyone adds to their playlist and manages to cover topics like relationships from a new angle.                 Along with this Chris Brown is often making songs with artists that you’ve probably never heard of and who collaborating with has no benefit for him. Working with Brown is also the claim to fame for many upcoming artists on reality TV franchise Love and Hip Hop . The list of reality stars that have written and produced fo
Read more