It was an eventful Sunday evening at Coca-Cola Arena with the Floyd Mayweather versus Deji fight. Punches were thrown, disputes happened in (and outside) of the ring, and new fights were potentially agreed upon.
“The influencer boxing scene has taken the world by storm,” were the words that echoed around the stadium from the commentators. Young crowds had gathered to watch the main event with Floyd “Money” Mayweather in the ring with mega-YouTuber, Deji. Leading up to the fight, Bobby Fish and Boateng Pempreh first entered the ring. After Bobby Fish had dominated the first round, he soon won the second, throwing a punch toward Pempreh, and jolting him to the floor.
Delfine Persoon VS Ikram Kerwat
Delfine Persoon was up next against Ikram Kerwat which again, was a quick fight. In round one, Delfine kept her posture strong but things turned badly when Ikram was knocked to the floor. With both gloves on the canvas, Delfine struck Ikram on her back while she was down, consequently concluding the fight to be a no-win. Unhappy with the outcome, Delfine, and her team walked off the ring disappointed with only getting through one round.
Anthony “Pretty Boy” Taylor VS Jack Fincham
As more fans entered the Arena, things were heating up with Anthony “Pretty Boy” Taylor scheduled next, fighting against Love Island star, Jack Fincham. Both men held their game in the ring, but it was Anthony who showed more strength, and quicker jabs, cutting Jack by the eye in one of the rounds. There was no winner in this fight, however, Anthony did take the microphone and call out Tommy Fury to fight him again – the probability of that fight happening is most likely 0 to none.
Jadier Herrera was announced the winner of his Junior Lightweight exhibition fight against Franklin Manzanilla after Manzanilla threw in his towel in the 6th round, and Koji Kouzi was up against J’hon Ingram for the featherweight fight. Both fighters showed good performance and skill throughout the fight.
Tiwa Savage Performance
Afrobeats artist Tiwa Savage who was announced as the first female Afrobeats singer to hit 1 million views in just 24 hours performed her hit singles leading us up to the Mayweather fight. The audience danced and sang to her songs, waving their phones in the air as the singer walked barefoot around the ring. With the audience raring to go, Fury was next to enter the ring.
Tommy Fury VS Rolly Lambert
Due to Paul Bamba not attending the weigh-in as planned, Tommy Fury was set to fight Rolly Lambert just hours before the fight began. The exhibition fight was full of entertainment with Jake Paul’s entrance announced just before the Fury and Lambert fight. Large crowds gathered to see the “problem child” make his way to his front-row seat, ready to commentate on the Fury fight on his own channel. As the rounds began, Paul was seen shouting toward Tommy, distracting him during the fight. The crowd booed during the fight as it was mostly defensive from both sides, with avoidance of contact. It was only when Fury was announced as the winner of the exhibition fight and made his speech, getting the audience up on their feet.
John Fury VS Jake Paul
Tommy Fury thanked the supporters for coming to watch the fight but of course, there was some drama as he called out Jake Paul to come into the ring and fight him. After the arguments had escalated, Tommy Fury’s father John had taken his shirt off to fight Jake Paul who refused to get into the ring which was the unforeseen fight no one had expected. Tommy Fury stayed away from the debacle that was happening between his father and Jake Paul, however, things had escalated, provoking Tommy Fury to jump in.
Hands were then shaken between John Fury and Jake Pauls’s manager, predicting a fight between Fury and Paul coming soon. Since Tommy Fury was unable to fight Jake Paul in August 2022, there has been an ongoing dispute between the two on when the fight is going to happen. Post the Sunday evening fight night, it seems the fight will be sooner rather than later, potentially in early 2023 in the UK. As a social media influencer, Jake Paul couldn’t help but upload comedy memes of John Fury, making light of the situation that happened.
Mayweather VS Deji
KSI walked into the Arena with his mum, with huge crowds following behind them, taking videos and pictures. It was clear to see the influence KSI had on the audience as they cheered for him, chanting his name.
“Social media influencer looking to make a living out of boxing with over 25 million followers and wearing purple shorts, please welcome YouTuber Deji” was Deji’s introduction into the ring. He chose a Nigerian song for his entrance showing tribute to his country and following on from the powerful performance by Tiwa Savage. Mayweather was introduced with his “snakeskin shorts” on and as the “champion of the world.” The lights went down, and everyone had their torch lights on as he made his way into the ring. Accusations were made by Jake Paul that Mayweather took his time to enter the ring due to him being there.
Throughout the fight, Mayweather taunted Deji around the ring smiling, singing, and dancing in each round. Once again, Mayweather grabbed hold of one of the cards from the ring girl just as he did in the previous Abu Dhabi exhibition fight and walked around, holding it up. Although he didn’t dance with the ring girl this time, he danced with his opponent throwing light punches. It was a brave move for social media icon Deji to get into the ring with a world boxing champion, however, the crowd did cheer on for Deji, singing his name. Deji was on the defense and for every one punch he threw at Mayweather, in return, Mayweather gave him a few back. The ref soon called off the fight in the sixth round for healthy and safety reasons after Deji had taken a few knocks from Mayweather which would have caused a huge risk if he continued to fight.
The Global Titans Fight Night was yet another successful event seeing top professional boxers coming together in this exhibition fight and creating an entertaining night. Although there is a fine line between boxing and entertainment, boxing is a professional sport that should be taken seriously. The sport has opened the door for influencers to get into the ring, and with Deji fighting boxing champions like Mayweather, it has already opened doors for the future of influencers who are turning to professional boxing for a living.
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