KSI’s fight with Joe Weller is scheduled for February 2018, after the pair had a public online feud.
Speaking to TenEighty about how the feud began, KSI says: “We weren’t really friends, we were just alright with each other and then I jokingly said we should have a fight, on his Instagram. I wasn’t really taking it seriously but then [Joe] took it really seriously, and made a video and everything saying, ‘KSI’s a pussy, he doesn’t want to fight me, blah blah blah’. I was like, ‘Fine, we can fight, it’s not that deep’.
“And then the press conference happened,” he continues. “It got really serious after that.”
The press conference in question was at Upload, a gaming event, where KSI and Joe appeared to have a genuine fight onstage. Afterwards, KSI uploaded a video responding to the fight and apologising for comments he made regarding Joe’s mental health:
Some members of the community have expressed doubts about the authenticity of the feud, including Jack Dean, who discussed the situation in a video, saying: “Joe Weller and KSI are two YouTube pals who are pretending not to be YouTube pals in order to replicate the success of the Conor McGregor and Floyd Mayweather fight.”
KSI, however, affirms that the feud is completely real. “Now I’m training very seriously,” he adds. “I’m excited. February can’t come sooner. I can’t wait for people to see me destroy him. People aren’t going to realise but I’m very strong.”
Nice to see I'm still the favourite against Joe. It's like they know something 😈😈 pic.twitter.com/U6kokSc0na
— KSI (@KSIOlajidebt) October 18, 2017
Talking about his training process, he says: “Obviously Joe’s been training but I’ve just been training more. A lot of running, cardio’s important. I think he’s been working on trying to pump more iron, trying to bulk himself up, whereas for me I’m just trying to get lean and do a lot of cardio.”
He’s also been thinking about tactics. “[Joe will] exhaust himself in the first and second round, and in the third round it’ll just be me. It’ll be too easy. I’ll be hitting him with a jab here and there and then one right hook. And then it’s over.”
So just to be clear, he’s confident? “Yeah, yeah, I’m very confident. Very confident!” he laughs.
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