TWO of Misfits Boxing’s head honchos first met in a fight on the streets of London – now they run a promotion worth over £100million.
The company was launched in 2022 to give a home to crossover bouts between celebrity and sporting stars.
It was founded British YouTube sensation KSI and his music mogul manager Mams Taylor.
But they also teamed up with boxing promoter Kalle Sauerland, who first met Taylor during a street fight in London.
Taylor told SunSport: “Kalle and I were in the West End having a street fight against each other’s friends.
“We were probably 13 or 14 and we’ve always had a mutual respect for each other, Nisse [Sauerland] as well.
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“And they had a reputation as hard men and I had a reputation for the same thing, we’d always be fighting and I don’t know why, obviously it’s stupid now.
“Over the years we would see each other and there was always a mutual respect.”
Taylor would go onto find fame in music while Sauerland became one of boxing’s most powerful figures.
And in 2019, when KSI – nicknamed JJ – beat Logan Paul in their Los Angeles rematch, the idea of a crossover boxing platform was created.
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Taylor said: “Kalle and I spoke about it and I was like, ‘Look, I really want JJ to be doing this for himself rather than making others millions.
“I spoke to JJ about it and he loved it. He loves creating platforms that helps others and I think this really helps creators in so many ways.”
Misfits head into their eighth event this Saturday, staged in Nashville and aired on streaming service DAZN.
Taylor admits he has been inspired by the WWE’s production value but insists the mayhem of Misfits is ultimately real.
He said: “You can’t script the action.
“It’s real boxing matches within that ring so you can’t predict the outcome and you never know what’s going to happen.
“The fighting is real but sometimes I’ll plant a seed and just leave it and I know that it’s going to create a feud between a couple of them.
“Some professional s***stirring has to gone on once in a while. But a lot of the time it’s cool because it just happens organically.”
The new wave of social media influencers boxing has changed the lives of many, including KSI and Jake Paul, who train full time.
But Misfits have also faced criticism for their matchmaking in the past, including a super-heavyweight bout of almost 60 STONE and tag-team matches.
Although Taylor admits there is a sense of responsibility to ensure every boxer on Misfits is respecting the sport.
He said: “We want them to take the training seriously, we can’t control everything that happens but what we can control we definitely make it as safe as possible.
“We go the extra mile on the medical testing, we go the extra mile in ensuring everyone is putting the work in and taking care of their health.
“Even for exhibition matches where we’re not obligated to do the extent of medical testing that we do, we’d rather do it and spend the extra money to protect them.”
KSI has headlined three Misfists events now on DAZN PPV and is in talks to fight Tommy Fury next.
But as CEO of the company, he has a say on everything, including matchmaking and production.
Taylor says they have turned down interest to sell Misfits after just 12 months of business and gives it an eye-watering valuation.
He said: “It’s worth over £100million, if you look at everything, including our contracts long-term, things in the pipeline.
“Every event we’ve done has made a profit and the audience is just growing. We had an offer to have effect, over £100million.
“But we don’t want to give up control and not want an investor to come in and have a say without having the knowledge.”
Misfits are entering the first of their five years with DAZN and Taylor warns they are only just getting started.
He said: “Within that five-year period our growth is going to be exponential we’ve got amazing ideas.
“We’ve got something for everyone, we’ve got a pro division that’s launching, we’ve got some fights that are more gimmicky, tag-teams.
“Then we’ve got guys who don’t take it too seriously but they want to settle a beef which is super entertaining.
“Then you’ve got guys who live and breathe like boxers now; KSI, trains super hard, Jake Paul, we’ve seen his transformation.
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“All these guys, it’s their primary lifestyle now it’s taken over everything they’ve been doing.
“So you’ve got to give them respect, they’re putting in the hours and the work. You can hate on these guys all you want, but they’re watching.”
Source: Boxing - thesun.co.uk
