Doctor Mike explains his problem with KSI\u2019s boxing opponents ahead of Temperrr fight DexertoWe asked YouTube star, physician, and budding boxer Doctor Mike for his thoughts on KSI\u2019s upcoming bout against FaZe Temperrr and the current state of the influencer-boxing scene. Doctor Mike might be a healer, but he\u2019s prescribing these hands for anyone willing to step into the ring with him\u2026 and he doesn\u2019t think KSI wants the smoke. KSI, a British rapper, YouTuber, and white-collar boxer, is taking on fellow influencer FaZe Temperrr on July 14 in the Misfits x DAZN Series 004 event, which is streaming exclusively on the combat sports platform. This matchup comes as a last-minute shakeup to an event that, up until just a few days ago, was supposed to feature mixed martial artist Dillon Danis as KSI\u2019s opponent. Danis suddenly pulled out of the match just a week before fight night, but fans are still excited to see two influencers duke it out in the ring, either way. However, Doctor Mike isn\u2019t too keen on KSI\u2019s latest pick. In fact, he thinks the influencer is aiming for weaker opponents on purpose, and would rather the YouTuber face off against Slim Albaher, instead \u2014 the creator who defeated Temperrr on the undercard of KSI\u2019s last fight back in August 2022. Additionally, KSI actually name-dropped Doctor Mike as a possible opponent late last year, but the good doctor isn\u2019t convinced the Brit will be up to the challenge. \u201cI have little faith that a fight between us ever happens, as it seems KSI and his team like to handpick easier opponents,\u201d he said. \u201cI don\u2019t knock him for this though, as he\u2019s wisely protecting his mind, body, and brand. If he was interested in a challenge, given his significant experience, I would\u2019ve liked for him to fight Slim rather than the guy Slim knocked out. I hope his next fight will be against Jake Paul and that no one backs out at the last minute, because that\u2019s getting tiring.\u201d Influencer boxing does experience the occasional lineup shuffle from time to time \u2013 be it due to last-minute injuries, scheduling conflicts, or problems with making weight before fight night. In 2022, KSI\u2019s match against American YouTuber Alex Wassabi got switched to his unexpected \u2018two fights, one night\u2019 event after Wassabi received a debilitating head injury while sparring and couldn\u2019t compete due to health risks. Jake Paul had a similar experience, as his bout with Tommy Fury was canceled when the British boxer couldn\u2019t make it to the United States due to travel difficulties. He then chose Hasim Rahman Jr. as his opponent \u2014 but Rahman couldn\u2019t make weight in time, ultimately resulting in the entire event getting canned, costing Jake \u201cmillions\u201d of dollars. Doctor Mike calls influencer boxing a \u201cpositive\u201d for combat sports That being said, Doctor Mike thinks that influencer boxing is creating a positive (or at the very least, neutral) effect on the sport itself. Mike notably fought on the main event in 2022\u2019s Creator Clash against iDubbbz \u2014 an event that saw huge positive reception from fans. \u201cIt\u2019s a slightly positive or net-neutral effect on the sport,\u201d Doctor Mike said of the influencer boxing scene. \u201cSome influencer events have respected the art of boxing, like Creator Clash, and others, like Showstar, left a black eye on influencer boxing (pun intended). I wish the matchmakers took their job more seriously, as they are bound to create a matchup that is going to put someone\u2019s life in jeopardy due to a mismatch.\u201d Doctor Mike gives his take on Jake Paul vs Anderson Silva Another major trend occurring in the influencer boxing realm has seen top creators face off against combat sports GOATS, such as Logan Paul vs Mayweather in 2020 and Jake Paul vs Anderson Silva in 2022. Doctor Mike notably fought on the undercard of Paul vs Silva \u2014 and he thinks that these kinds of matchups can make sense, if they\u2019re executed with the right \u201cpurpose\u201d in mind. \u201cI\u2019m okay with influencers fighting \u2018GOATS,\u2019 but the fights must be made with a purpose,\u201d he mused. \u201cDeji vs. Mayweather never made sense, as the skill gap was ridiculous. At this stage, I would never venture into the ring with Mayweather as I know I stand no chance, making for a snoozefest of a main event (just like Deji\u2019s fight was). \u201c Doctor Mike: \u201cNo one in the influencer space is taking on challenges like this\u201d Doctor Mike has experience to back up his claims. The board-certified physician has been boxing to stay in shape for ten years, and took his first official matches in 2022 against YouTuber iDubbbz and pro boxer Chris Avila. He\u2019s also trained alongside professional fighter Amanda Serrano, on top of his many years in Taekwondo as a youth. \u201cMy fight against Chris Avila was by far the most formidable challenge,\u201d he said of his current fighting career. \u201cNot only did I have to come down to an all-time low weight of 182 lbs, but I stepped in the ring with someone who has over 20+ fights of experience, is currently on a 5 or 6-fight win streak (including on Jake Paul\u2019s last event), and is younger than me.\u201d \u201cNo one in the influencer space is taking on challenges like this. Even when KSI fights a \u2018professional\u2019 like Pineda, it\u2019s someone he knows will be guaranteed to be a joke of an opponent.\u201d Although Mike ultimately lost his bout against Avila, his fight against iDubbbz earlier that year was a huge success, and he\u2019s stated that he\u2019s open to taking more fights in the future as the influencer boxing world continues to roll on. For now, though, he feels that the success of the scene is dependent on the efforts of influencers, pro fighters, and brands to make it the best \u2014 and most professional \u2014 experience possible. \u201cRight now, the long-term success of the influencer boxing world is up in the air. If we continue to see low-quality events with poor matchups, the appetite for the sport will dwindle, so I am hopeful that more investment will be made from brands and fighters alike. \u201c Doctor Mike is up for the challenge All in all, Doctor Mike is aware of just how taxing influencer boxing can be \u2014 and despite the many influencers set to step into the ring this year, he\u2019s pretty sure that no one is doing it quite like he is (aside from Jake Paul, of course). \u201cIn boxing, nothing trumps experience, and I\u2019m not speaking solely about ring experience,\u201d he explained. \u201cThe preparation, the injuries, the weight loss, the distractions, the drama all take a toll, and you become much more comfortable each time you\u2019re exposed to the whole fight experience.\u201d Also, both [of my own] fights were of epic magnitude for different reasons. Creator Clash was the main event in front of a sold-out 10,000-person arena. The most recent was a true professional showtime PPV main card bout against someone with significantly more fight experience. Besides maybe Jake Paul, no one has taken on this level of challenge in the influencer fight game.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Doctor Mike explains his problem with KSI\u2019s boxing opponents ahead of Temperrr fight DexertoWe asked YouTube star, physician, and budding boxer Doctor Mike for his thoughts on KSI\u2019s upcoming bout against FaZe Temperrr and the current state of the influencer-boxing scene. Doctor Mike might be a healer, but he\u2019s prescribing these hands for anyone willing […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-47167","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47167","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=47167"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47167\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=47167"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=47167"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=47167"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}