YOUTUBE boxing star KSI has been forced to announce a new fight – amid backlash his old opponent has “racist” tattoos.
KSI – real name Olajide William Olatunji – returns to the ring after three years out on August 27.
And he raised eyebrows after announcing he will face both rapper Swarmz and Bulgarian boxer Ivan Nikolov on the same night.
But Nikolov, 43, has been seen to have neo-Nazi tattoos, causing fan fury.
A “white power” tattoo is seen on his stomach and on his left forearm, Nikolov has a tattoo of the words “Blood & Honour”.
That is the name of a neo-Nazi skinhead group formed in England in the 1980s.
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Also in between the words is a triskele symbol, a three-pointed swastika which was the logo for the group.
Nikolov also has a Schutzstaffel logo on his right arm, which was the police and military force of the Nazi Party, who pledged an oath of loyalty to Germany’s ex-dictator Adolf Hitler.
His neo-Nazi tattoos were pointed out by one of his previous opponents, Daniel Blenda Dos Santos, who slammed the boxer after winning their fight in April.
Dos Santos said: “When I saw his tattoos, some of them racist in nature, I wanted to hurt him.”
KSI, 28, responded to the allegations on his YouTube channel and confirmed Nikolov was replaced due to his tattoos.
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He said: “He’s a white supremacist
“Ivan isn’t my opponent anymore. He has been removed.
“The matchmaker also got fired for allowing this to happen in the first place. But yes, my new opponent is Luis Alcarez Pineda.”
KSI will instead face Mexican pro boxer Luis Alcaraz Pineda, who has a 2-5 record.
KSI last fought in 2019, beating Logan Paul, 27, in a rematch of their exhibition bout which ended in a draw a year before.
The Londoner had beaten Joe Weller, 26, in a similar bout in 2018, his first boxing match.
Source: Boxing - thesun.co.uk
