KSI Stuns Viewers After Revealing How Much He Turned Down to Fight Jake Paul
On a recent podcast appearance, KSI claimed he turned down an eight-figure sum to fight Jake Paul.
KSI, real name Olajide Olatunji, has called out the American on several occasions over the years. Back in 2022, he offered Paul the chance to appear on the undercard of his Misfits bout against Alex Wassabi, which was later cancelled.
A year later, it looked like a match-up was in the pipeline until it was announced that former UFC welterweight contender Nate Diaz would face off against Paul, who was looking to bounce back from a defeat against Tommy Fury.
Paul has also flirted with the idea of coming up against KSI.
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However, in a recent podcast episode with YouTuber Ranveer Allahbadia, the Brit poured cold water over a bout happening in the future as he claimed to be "done" with boxing.
Olatunji also revealed that he turned down "30 million" to fight Paul.
"My fight with Tommy Fury... all the money I made, I gave it to my trainers. All of it. For me, I don't do stuff for this," he began.
"I've been offered 20 million to fight Jake Paul, 30 million to fight Jake Paul. These guys can't give me any amount of money to fight this guy. When it comes to boxing, I'm done.
"I tried. My main goal when I got into the boxing ring again was to fight Jake Paul and build Misfits. I built Misfits, tried to fight Jake Paul time and time and time again, but there was excuse after excuse after excuse.
"Instead of Tommy Fury, I was there ready to fight Jake Paul. I was ready. I was there. And instead he fought Nate Diaz. And at that point, I had to fight Tommy Fury."
"I tried to build up again, to then try and fight Jake," added Olatunji. "And then he was just getting heavier and heavier and heavier, trying to move the goalposts when it comes to weight. Then it got to the point where I was like, 'What am I doing, man?'"
Jake Paul has already set his sights on next opponent
After turning professional in 2020, the ambitious Paul created a "hit list" of desired opponents.
Gervonta Davis, who was set to face Paul until the fight was cancelled after allegations of abuse were made against the former three-division world champion, featured on the list alongside 11 other names.
Canelo Alvarez, Conor McGregor, KSI, Kamaru Usman, Logan Paul, Ben Askren, AnEsonGib, Nate Robinson, Tyron Woodley and Nate Diaz were also named alongside Tommy Fury.
However, ahead of his bout against Joshua last month, Paul set his sights on UFC light heavyweight champion Alex Pereira.
Speaking to ESPN, the 28-year-old brought up his desire to face Pereira as he opened up about Dana White's new boxing promotion Zuffa Boxing, which is set to launch in January 2026.
"[Dana being a boxing promoter] definitely makes it easier for that fight to happen," Paul said.
"But I don't know if the UFC will ever let one of their MMA fighters do a boxing match again. But I hope, and I'd be ecstatic if it could happen. But, ultimately, I think one of their superstars taking a loss against a Disney kid isn't good for their business."
He also mentioned Terrence Crawford, who recently announced his retirement from boxing.
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