Logan Paul defeats Dillon Danis but security step into the ring as the bout ends in chaos
(CNN) — YouTube and WWE star Logan Paul defeated MMA fighter Dillon Danis by disqualification in Saturday’s influencer boxing event at the AO Arena in Manchester, England.
But the occasion descended into chaos afterwards as security piled into the ring to separate the two fighters while Paul himself clambered on top of the ropes and held his arm aloft in a victory salute.
The build up to the Paul-Danis fight, the night’s co-main event, had been years in the making and their fierce rivalry threatened to spill overboard at times before and during the fight.
Danis spent most of the six-round bout defending, in an apparent attempt at disrupting his opponent’s rhythm, before he tried to take Paul down with some grappling moves, sparking the chaos at the end of the fight.
“He’s supposed to be good at jiu-jitsu, what happened?” Paul said afterwards, according to broadcaster DAZN. “He tried to do a takedown, he tried to do a guillotine. I’m sorry I missed that hammer fist. I’m sorry it ended that way … Regardless, thank you for coming out tonight.”
Meanwhile, Tommy Fury narrowly defeated YouTuber KSI on points in the other co-main event, with one judge scoring it 57-57 and the other two scoring it 57-56 in Fury’s favor, according to Reuters.
Olajide “KSI” Olatunji shook his head as the decision was announced, called it a “robbery,” and said that he wanted a rematch, according to DAZN.
Fury comes from a boxing family – he is the half-brother of heavyweight world champion Tyson Fury – but shot to fame after his appearance on British reality dating show “Love Island.”
“I fought my absolute heart out,” he told DAZN afterwards. “I said from day one, there’ll never be another Tyson Fury, I’m just trying to be the best Tommy Fury I can be.”
The high-profile double-header garnered huge interest online – the quartet have a combined following of over 17 million on X, formerly known as Twitter.
Misfits Boxing, the promotors of the event, told CNN that general sale of the tickets sold out within an hour, with the whole night being sold out in a week.