KSI vs Tommy Fury does huge numbers!
It has been revealed today that the crossover clash between Youtuber KSI (1-1) and professional boxer Tommy Fury (10-0, 4KO) achieved a staggering 1.3 million pay-per-view buys worldwide.
The rivals clashed at AO Arena in Manchester on Saturday, October 14, live on DAZN. Fury won unanimously with scores of 57-56 x3, which was incorrectly announced as a mixed decision on the night.
To put it into context, that outstanding viewing figure is only just short of fights such as David Haye vs Tony Bellew and Anthony Joshua vs Andy Ruiz 2. In America, two undisputed champions Canelo and Jermell Charlo clashed for only 700,000 pay-per-view buys, which was the third-highest selling boxing match of the year in the States.
The total purse for the fight has not been officially confirmed, but reports suggest it was in the region of £10 million. The split has also not been made official, but it's expected KSI made slightly more than Fury, and that the YouTuber plans to reinvest much of his fee back into Misfits Boxing.
'TNT' Fury, 24-years-old, is expected to have bagged between £4-5 million, while KSI takes home the slightly larger split of £5-6 million.
Londoner KSI, real name Olajide William Olatunji, cried robbery after the result was announced and called for a rematch but the Mancunian declared he was done with crossover boxing events.
"The Tommy Fury vs KSI fight really demonstrates the power of social media and social media engagement with a new type of fan audience"
Speaking to Saxo, Dr Rob Wilson, sport finance expert and professor of economics at Sheffield Business School, confirmed that KSI has made more money from one fight than the Rugby World Cup 2023 winners will, "The harsh reality is that rugby as a sport is less attractive than other sports, be it Premier League, La Liga, World Cups or it is indeed celebrity boxing fights. Rugby has an opportunity to grow its fanbase through the advent of their World Cup competition.
"The emergence of so called Tier Two nations such as Japan or Fiji, or to a lesser extent Argentina has demonstrated that rugby, globally, is improving and I think those improved games will only serve to increase the reputation of Rugby Union and it will follow with interest from broadcasters and commercial partnerships.
"The Tommy Fury vs KSI fight really demonstrates the power of social media and social media engagement with a new type of fan audience. While traditional boxing fans will see it as a gimmick, what is clear is there is a massive appetite for consumption of sports on this basis. Selling out on PPV is one demonstration of the power fights like this can have and you would imagine there will be more to come."
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