In an event that could be dubbed “Brother Wars” 22,000+ will witness YouTube celebrities Logan Paul and his younger brother Jake Paul square off against celebrity gamer KSI and his younger brother Deji Olatunji Saturday Night from the Manchester Arena. Logan Paul, 189 lbs., will be making his debut as a boxer but has been in intensive training for over six months with pro fight trainer Milton LaCroix. KSI, 186 1/2, made his boxing debut February 3rd against YouTube personality Joe Weller and won via 3rd round stoppage. Jake Paul, 181 1/2 and Deji Olatunji, 174, have not met in the ring but have already squared off in Ricky Hatton’s gym in Manchester with Paul scoring the first punch. Both fights are scheduled for 6-rounds. I had a chance to catch up with Jake Paul and his trainer before his boxing debut and had a chance to break down the particulars.
The Paul’s have a secret weapon in trainer Milton LaCroix, founder of Supreme Team Boxing. The legendary LaCroix was the subject matter in the book “The Gloves” written by Robert Anasi. If you have yet to digest “The Gloves” it is a must read for any boxing enthusiast and one of the most inspirational fight books ever inked. The dapper New York trainer nicknamed “Milton Supreme” has claim to over fifty Golden Gloves champions dating back to the early 90’s. In the pro ranks the Puerto Rican mastermind took a supposedly washed up Shannon Briggs from obscurity to win the heavyweight title in 2006. Once Briggs jumped ship on LaCroix over money, Briggs was easily dethroned in his first title defense against smallish and limited Sultan Ibragimov.
Most recently LaCroix has been in the corner of pro contenders Sullivan Barrera and Wilky Campfort. Both fighters improved markedly in his short stint training with the corner boss. The cagey boxing man has now turned all of his focus to train Jake Paul and Logan Paul. That is bad news for the Paul brothers opponents KSI and Deji. The 6-foot KSI notched a win over a diminutive and terrified 5’8″ Joe Weller. KSI, 25, acted as if he had defeated GGG for the title and celebrated what was essentially a win over a human punching bag with arms and legs. Against Logan Paul, 23, the arrogant KSI will be met by a man that is a half a foot taller and 20+ Lbs. heavier than Weller. Expect the 6’2″ Paul to use patented Supreme Team Boxing footwork and slickness to frustrate KSI into a decision loss. When I asked LaCroix about the fight this is what he had to say. “Logan is freakishly strong. Whatever KSI has learned between now and when he fought Weller won’t be nearly enough. If Logan does the sorts of things he has been doing in the gym lately KSI has no shot.”
Apparently pro gamblers are aware of LaCroix’s Supreme Team Boxing powers. Betting Odds for KSI vs Logan Paul opened with KSI as a -135 moneyline favorite but have since moved completely the other direction with Paul now the -135 favorite. The bookies released their line on the Jake Paul vs Deji Olatunji fight with Paul as a massive -800. To put that in perspective the oddsmakers are only giving Olatunji, 21, an 11% chance of winning the fight. When I asked Milton LaCroix about his evaluation of the Jake Paul vs Deji Olatunji match-up he was dismissive of Olatunji altogether. “Olatunji fights paraplegic and he’s going to get hurt. Jake Paul is a little bad motherfu%ke#.” While it is hard to make a prediction on two guys with no boxing footage to evaluate, it is apparent that Jake Paul came in ready to fight. Earlier in the week the 6-foot Paul smacked the much shorter 5’7″ Deji in the face with a crisp straight right upon seeing Deji at Ricky Hatton’s gym in Manchester. The mild response that Deji elicited did not inspire much confidence for his ability to inflict punishment. I caught up with Jake Paul, 21, and asked him what he had learned from his new trainer LaCroix. “In a short period of time I have went from being a street brawler to a competent boxer with solid fundamentals. We put in hundreds of hours training and the amount that I have learned in a short period of time is incredible. Expect a knockout.”
Jake Paul stated to legendary boxing announcer Michael Buffer that he planned on stopping Desi in the 1st round. While the 1st round might be a bit brief it is most likely that Desi will quit from a combination of exhaustion and frustration from missing punches in the 2nd or 3rd frame. The fights start at 7 PM ET on YouTube for $10. Follow Logan Paul on Instagram @loganpaul and his brother @jakepaul. Follow KSI @KSI and his brother Deji @Comedygamer.
