Logan Paul and KSI finally brought some closure to their rivalry, with KSI earning a split-decision victory in their rematch Saturday night. But the ruling at Staples Center in Los Angeles didn’t come without its fair share of controversy.
Paul dropped KSI in the fourth round, which the ref declared an official knockdown. But the ref also deducted two points from Paul over what was deemed a punch behind the head and a push. That got registered as a 10-point round for Paul, but with a minus-2 attached on judges’ scorecards. So, essentially the round was scored as an 8-8.
That deduction proved pivotal, as the judges’ scorecards had it 57-54 and 56-55 in favor of KSI and 56-55 for Paul.
Paul blamed the two-point deduction for his razor-thin loss on the cards.
"I let emotions get the best of me, but I will say, no warning and I got two points taken away from me?" Paul said. "That's why I think I lost tonight. Do the math. The two points that I got taken away from me was the reason I lost tonight. I would love to contest the commission because I think I should have gotten a warning."
To that, KSI could evoke the third-round knockdown he delivered on Paul, only for the ref to declare that the British fighter punched the American behind the head and thus not scoring it as an official knockdown. However, the instant replay showed that KSI hit Paul behind the ear and that the blow should have stood as an official knockdown.
KSI was the aggressor early on and never took his foot off the gas. He was even able to gather his wobbly legs after the fourth round to survive the fifth round and blast his way back in the sixth. Judges awarded that effort, giving KSI the win in what marked both YouTubers' pro debut.
Last summer, KSI and Paul fought to a majority draw in an amateur bout in England. Paul says he'd be interested in a third fight, but KSI said "it's done" after the fight on Saturday night.