Deji Olatunji, a YouTube content creator with more than 10 million subscribers on the platform, hasn’t had the best of luck when it comes to boxing – but that changed at the O2 in London on Saturday night.
The influencer – also known as “ComedyShortsGamer” – had his first fight against Jake Paul in August 2018, while his brother and fellow content creator KSI took on Paul’s older sibling, Logan Paul.
Deji was defeated in the fifth round by way of technical knockout.
In a ‘YouTubers vs TikTokers’ event in June last year, Deji faced Vinnie Hacker, who has almost 15 million followers on the short-form video platform. He lost again.
Then, in March this year, Deji was up against fellow YouTuber Alex Wassabi, who ended up winning on the judge’s scorecards.
Following the defeat, Deji tweeted: “Thank you guys for supporting me and I’m sorry, but nothing will keep me down.”
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Well, this weekend, he had his fourth fight – his first professional bout – against content creator Youself “Fousey” Erakat, and won after his opponent’s team threw in the towel during the third round.
Speaking after the match, which left Fousey with a bruised eye, Deji said: “First of all, I want to give glory to God – if it wasn’t for him, I wouldn’t even be here.
“Secondly, I have the best team ever. I have Daley, the best boxing coach ever … and I have everyone out there showing their love, and that brought me up.
“Third, I want to say thank you to everyone who’s here, and all the millions watching at home as well – thank you.”
He also took to Twitter to write: "Don't give up."
And Twitter users were more than made up at Deji finally getting a win:
\u201cDEJI IS AN UNDEFEATED PROFESSIONAL BOXER\u201d— Jake Paul (@Jake Paul) 1661633247
\u201cDeji FUCKED dat boy up. Proud of him fr \ud83e\udd72\u201d— YourRAGE (@YourRAGE) 1661632791
\u201cDeji when he actually punches #KSISwarmz\u201d— Grayz (@Grayz) 1661633382
\u201cSo proud of you bro @Deji \u2764\ufe0f\u2764\ufe0f\u2764\ufe0f\u201d— ksi (@ksi) 1661670594
\u201cus watching deji put on a masterclass against fousey after all the disappointment\u201d— V (@V) 1661632745
\u201cThe whole of the UK watching Deji Win\u201d— P\u2077\ud83d\udd30 (@P\u2077\ud83d\udd30) 1661632739
\u201cKSI\u2019s reaction to Deji winning \ud83d\udd25\ud83d\udd25https://t.co/E5F1UE8lXx\u201d— KSI NEWS (@KSI NEWS) 1661633790
\u201cDEJI FINALLY GOT A W LETS FUCKING GOOOOO #WEJI #KSISwarmz\u201d— K.BO 25 (@K.BO 25) 1661632775
\u201cWhole of the UK when Deji finally gets a win:\n\n#KSISwarmz\u201d— giantblackmamba (@giantblackmamba) 1661633374
\u201cDEJI WINNING IS ENOUGH TO MAKE A GROWN MAN CRY #KSISwarmz\u201d— Rea \ud83e\udee1 (@Rea \ud83e\udee1) 1661632818
\u201cMe going to sleep knowing Deji got his first W #KSISwarmz\u201d— Rea \ud83e\udee1 (@Rea \ud83e\udee1) 1661632844
Deji went on to add that he would be up for fighting “whoever” wanted to take him on next, as well as TikToker Bryce Hall.
Meanwhile, brother KSI called out Andrew Tate as a potential future opponent, after he defeated both rapper Swarmz and professional boxer Luis Alcaraz Pineda in the same evening.
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