YouTube boxing brothers Deji and KSI are two of the most famous social media stars in the UK, but the younger sibling has explained one key difference between the pair.
KSI is the older and more famous brother, and has a better boxing record with five wins and a draw to Deji’s four losses and just one victory. However, they are both still massive draws, with Deji making major headlines when he faced Floyd Mayweather in an exhibition bout last November.
Deji was stopped in the sixth round of his fight with the 50-0 boxing legend, but managed to land one big shot that cut his rival under the eye; marking the first damage that Mayweather has suffered in years. Just eight months prior, he had been defeated by Alex Wassabi, prompting his brother to recommend that he hang up the gloves.
And in a new Amazon Prime documentary focusing on KSI’s life as a famous YouTube star, musician and boxer, Deji explained that his obsession with people liking him makes him less tenacious than his older sibling. “I guess he doesn’t care what other people think and I essentially do,” Deji told the documentary crew when asked about the biggest difference between the pair.
“But I can just sense that he’s lonely. JJ feels like he’s not a part of our family because we’re all so close whereas he’s in the distance so he’s kind of an outsider.” That familial relationship forms the basis of the new documentary, which was produced by Louis Theroux and released today, and steers away from covering the Brit’s boxing career for the most part.
KSI has been in the building for all but one of his brother’s fights – when he fought in America during 2021 with a travel ban in place for tourists. And he event staged his comeback after the loss to Wassabi when he landed his sole victory over Yusef ‘Fousey’ Erakat on the undercard of his ‘two fights in one night’ event.
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YouTube/Misfits Boxing)
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In the documentary, there is footage of the Wassabi fight, including a backstage moment between the brothers where KSI gets honest about his performance. Deji ended up returning to the gym and taking his training more seriously, leading to a victory against Fousey the following August.
“You could have won that,” KSI can be seen telling his brother. “It was there and you just didn’t take it and that’s why I’m like you need that mentality where you go ‘f*** it, I’m going to win’. I was screaming ‘this is your last round, do this, let’s go, take this opportunity’. The idea of losing, for me, I can’t ever fathom it, I’m terrified of losing, I’m scared, bro, it terrifies me.
“Do you know why? Because it sucks. So I put in that work and I do extra and extra and extra, it’s frustrating. You don’t understand, I wish I could just put my f***ing brain into yours so I could say ‘do you understand?’ You don’t show it, why have you just realised now after you’ve lost again? Why didn’t you win this one.”
