There’s no doubt about it: KSI is bigtime. The YouTuber, rapper and entrepreneur founded Misfits Boxing as a promotion to stage celebrity exhibition matches, including his own, which proved wildly popular with fans. And now KSI is stepping up. Having fought veteran pro fighter Joe Fournier in his last bout, he’s ready to meet a boxer on the way up.

That opponent is Tommy Fury. The younger brother of world heavyweight champion Tyson, he’s known for his appearance on Love Island – but he’s a highly rated up-and-coming boxer with an undefeated record. KSI is definitely not taking the easy option here. This is serious.

You can see this fight live on DAZN with Virgin Media, starting at 7pm on Saturday 14 October. So can KSI turn his dedication and self-belief into victory? Or will the greater pro boxing experience of Fury prove decisive? Here’s what you need to know…

What’s the background to this fight?

There’s always a call-out, isn’t there? KSI had his first pro bout in November 2019 against fellow YouTuber Logan Paul, and after KSI won, Tommy Fury was the first to challenge him to take on a more proficient opponent. KSI (aka JJ Olatunji), probably sensibly, concluded he wasn’t ready to step up at that point.

But since then he’s had another few years of training, as well as three victories in the ring over fellow Misfits boxers. In May this year, he took on Joe Fournier and was awarded the win when he knocked the 40-year-old down in the second round, although an investigation found that he had done so with an illegal move and designated the fight officially a “no contest”.

But what both KSI and his fans took away from this was that now, the 30-year-old Londoner was ready for a bigger challenge.

Will Tommy Fury provide that challenge?

No doubt. And not just because Fury has boxing prowess in his genes. He’s been a pro since 2018, when he made his debut against the vastly experienced Jevgenijs Andrejevs, winning on points. He’s not had the most orthodox journey since then, pausing his boxing career to compete on ITV2’s Love Island (where he met his partner Molly-Mae Hague, aww) and then fighting mixed martial artist Anthony Taylor.

But don’t let that distract you from the facts. Fury is unbeaten. He’s come up against some talented opponents and he’s seen off every single one, with four wins by knockout. And he even knows exactly what it takes to beat a YouTuber: his last win was over Jake Paul, brother of former KSI opponent Logan Paul, in February.

So will this be a close match-up?

In KSI’s last fight, he had a significant weight advantage over Fournier, who had previously fought at light heavyweight. Fury, though, fights in the same cruiserweight category as KSI, so there’s no imbalance there.

One thing to bear in mind is that Jake Paul took Fury the distance in their bout. There was no knockout victory for Fury here – not even a unanimous points win, in fact. The judges were split. Fury is the favourite but if KSI boxes clever, he can definitely give himself a good chance of winning.

For what it’s worth, Jake Paul doesn’t agree with that! “I think Tommy knocks him out in like less than five rounds,” he says. “I mean [KSI] is doing these gimmick WWE fights up until now. Tommy is his first real test.”

How do they measure up?

Who’s on the undercard?

Logan Paul, who’s been concentrating on MMA since his last boxing bout in 2021, is back in the ring to take on Dillon Danis (who pulled out of a fight with KSI earlier this year). The pre-fight trash talk on social media has turned ugly, with Paul even threatening to sue Danis over some of his comments.

Elsewhere there’s an all-YouTuber battle in the form of a middleweight clash between Salt Papi and Slim Albaher, while Fury’s former opponent Anthony Taylor is back to take on UK social star King Kenny. Iraqi amateur champ Walid Sharks faces Deen The Great in a lightweight rematch after Deen beat Sharks in a Misfits event in 2022.

When is KSI v Fury on TV?

You can see this fight on DAZN with Virgin Media from 7pm on Saturday 14 October 2023. It’s available to order from 10am on Tuesday 10 October and costs £24.99. And even better, this payment will also entitle you to a month’s subscription to DAZN, allowing you to enjoy a month of superb sporting action on DAZN.

The event cannot be recorded and will be repeated on Sunday 15 October at 9am, 2pm and 7pm (last playout).

The purchase will include access to the fight and will also entitle you to redeem one month’s access to DAZN – please see details at point of purchase. Promotion is owned and operated by DAZN.

How can I order the fight?

To watch this event, you must have a TiVo^® box, Virgin TV V6 box, powered by TiVo^®, a Virgin TV 360 box or Stream.

TiVo^® and V6 customers: Go to Home > On Demand > Live Events or press On Demand and go to Live Events. Press the red button then choose the event and follow the instructions on screen. A TV PIN may not be required. To view your booking, once purchased, go to On Demand > Live Events > Event Bookings.

Virgin TV 360 and Stream customers: Go to Home > Pay Per View Events rail. Press OK, then choose the event and follow the instructions on screen. A TV PIN may not be required. To view your booking, once purchased, go to Home > Pay Per View Events rail.