KSI had earlier hinted at retirement after the fight with British boxer Tommy Fury, which ended in a loss for him. “Right now, I feel like I’ve retired. It’s weird. I haven’t trained since the fight. I’ve kind of just enjoyed my life,” KSI had said during his appearance on the Impaulsive podcast. But, in influencer boxing, nothing is set in stone. As long as there are unsettled disputes, ‘The Nightmare’ cannot rest on his laurels. The gossip around town is that KSI’s bitter rival, Jake Paul, is a better boxer than him. The latter has spruced up his boxing record by adding notable names from the MMA world to his win column. The former Disney star’s meteoric rise in boxing must be giving KSI sleepless nights. In the realm of clout chasing, Jake Paul currently has the upper hand. But KSI is looking to change the dynamic. On August 31st, KSI is facing Slim Albaher and former MMA contender Anthony Taylor in a 1 vs. 2 “tag-team” boxing match. However, none of them are known pro-boxers. But what if he could challenge and beat a decorated and well-known boxer?

Reportedly, KSI’s team was in talks with the former unified light-welterweight champion Amir Khan. Tempted by the hefty purse offered by the influencer boxing scene, the ‘King’ contemplated a lucrative comeback after retirement. Amidst Khan’s backroom negotiations with KSI’s promotional outfit Misfits Boxing, the former recently said that they have reached an impasse. But, KSI’s manager Mams Taylor has come out on social media to set the record straight.

Who did the ghosting – KSI or Amir Khan?

At the Social Knockout 3 event in Dubai yesterday, Khan was asked about the possibility of a fight with KSI. Calling the potential bout a “big mismatch”, he stated, “It’s funny because when they announced that they want the fight, they thought I was gonna stay quiet. I said, ‘No problem I will take the fight’, and then his team just gone quiet. Sometimes it is good to give these guys a good little beating because they talk more than they can chew.”

However, KSI’s manager Mams Taylor immediately shot back and wrote on X that it was Amir Khan’s team who did the ghosting. In fact, as things stand,  both parties are now working on the finer details so that the fight can be brought to fruition later this year.

“We offered him the fight. He ghosted. (Hopefully I don’t have to show receipts and get called unprofessional because I do have receipts). Then his team got back in touch and we are literally working on the fight for later in the year. Why do people have to make shit up ffs. If I was Nakisa I would call this off because I’m offended,” Taylor wrote on X, while also taking a dig at MVP’s co-promoter Nakisa Bidarian who blamed him for failed Jake Paul-KSI fight negotiations.

Apart from the KSI bout, Khan has also previously discussed the possibility of a showdown with eight-division world champion Manny Pacquiao in Saudi Arabia. “I think Turki Alalshikh can make that fight happen between me and Manny Pacquiao. Yeah, that’s a fight that would definitely lift me up, for sure,” He told the Sun earlier this year.

Meanwhile, Amir Khan might be the crucial piece in the jigsaw that might lure ‘The Problem Child’ to ‘The Nightmare’. A win against the former welterweight world champion might just force Jake Paul to say yes to the grudge match. In the meantime, MVP co-founder revealed the reason why the much-anticipated bout did not materialize even after trying multiple times.

Keep it behind closed doors, please!

Jake Paul’s business partner Nakisa Bidarian stated in a recent interview with Ariel Helwani that the public position that KSI’s manager took during the two internet sensations’ fight negotiations rubbed him off the wrong way. He made it abundantly clear that any backdoor negotiations should be kept off the public domain, and that was one of the reasons why the fight fell through.

“When his representation is constantly taking a public position on Jake Paul, on MVP, on myself, it’s just not who I wanna do business with. It’s not who Jake wants to do business with. Jake Paul-KSI is a great fight. I think it’s an exciting fight. But it’s gonna be on terms that makes sense in the background between ourselves, DAZN, and Wasserman,” Bidarian said.

It has been over five years now that KSI and Jake Paul have been beefing on social media. A rivalry that started with Jake wanting to take revenge on KSI, on behalf of his older brother Logan Paul – who lost to the 31-year-old Youtuber in 2019, needs a fitting ending. Although KSI and Logan Paul have since become best buds and business partners, the bad blood between the former and the latter’s brother is at its peak.

Will the KSI vs Jake Paul fight ever happen? More importantly, do you think KSI can beat 37-year-old Amir Khan? Let us know in the comment section below.