List of All Articles with Tag 'sports'

The Philadelphia Flyers have named long-time television analyst Keith Jones team president of hockey operations and have removed the interim tag from general manager Danny Briere’s title

Before KSI, there was Olajide Olatunji – “JJ” for short. Before the YouTuber, gamer, rapper, boxer, promoter and energy drink magnate, there was the affable class clown in Berkhamsted, Hertfordshire. “I remember we did a production of Sweeney Todd,” one of his schoolmates tells The Independent. “He played the judge, and when he died at the end, he was twitching and doing the worm across the stage. Everyone was in stitches. He was funny, a nice guy – everybody liked him for that. He was popular, but not like, ‘I’m the s***’; he was confident but also a nerdy, endearing, sweet guy.” With those qualities, JJ was tailor made for YouTube, where he launched his channel ‘KSIOlajideBT’ in 2009 – four years after the platform’s inception. Fifteen years old at the time, JJ quickly garnered a following by filming himself playing Fifa – the famous football video game – at his parents’ house in Watford. His bewitching cackle was a key feature in each upload. “He always had that very distinctive laugh,” his schoolmate recalls. “I remember that. He would laugh at something during morning registration, and the teachers would be like, ‘JJ, please!’” By the end of 2009, Olatunji had amassed 1,000 subscribers. That number had tripled by the end of 2010, and Olatunji’s growth accelerated at a startling pace in 2011, as he reached 150,000 subscribers, and in 2012, when he crossed the million mark. JJ had become KSI – standing for ‘Knowledge Strength Integrity’ – and he would soon become arguably the most famous YouTuber in Britain. “When he started getting big on YouTube, it wasn’t a surprise to anyone,” this schoolmate says, “but you’d hear from certain people that knew him: ‘Oh, he’s definitely got a bit of an ego now. He’s not as sweet anymore, there’s an arrogance there, he talks about himself a lot. He used to be more engaged when he would talk to people.’” If the YouTube venture “made sense” to his peers, then so did his next move, when he released his first rap song in 2015. “I remember he’d written a rap to learn every element on the periodic table, and all the teachers were so impressed,” his schoolmate adds, but it was singing about supercars, after dropping out of school, that demonstrated how drastically KSI’s life had changed. His debut single “Lamborghini”, featuring P Money, peaked at No 30 in the UK chart. It has since been followed by numerous EPs and two studio albums. KSI’s next endeavour was less predictable, however. KSI ushers in the era of ‘influencer boxing’ “He was so sweet that no one would’ve said, ‘Oh, he’s gonna fight when he’s older,’” says his schoolmate. “When he did, it was like: ‘Oh, jeez. Well, I guess he can, so who’s gonna stop him?’” Popularity is not the synonym for likeability that some think it is, and KSI has long had his detractors. Wisely, however, he began to weaponise a widespread desire to watch him get punched in the face. In 2018, KSI fought in his first amateur boxing match, beating fellow British YouTuber Joe Weller via TKO inside three rounds, following a build-up that saw KSI mock his opponent for opening up on experiences with depression. KSI later apologised for his comments. Next for the Briton was Logan Paul, who in some ways appeared to be his American equivalent, and the pair fought to a draw in a sold-out Manchester Arena. The fight did a reported 1.3 million pay-per-view buys, leading to a professional rematch in 2019 – held at Los Angeles’ famed Staples Center, streamed on Dazn, promoted by Eddie Hearn, and won by KSI on points. Fighting on the undercard were world champions Billy Joe Saunders and Devin Haney, the latter of whom defends his undisputed lightweight titles against Vasily Lomachenko this month. The dynamic was disconcerting for most boxing fans, who accused the YouTubers of making a mockery of the sport, yet pop star Justin Bieber was present as the likes of Haney and Saunders were exposed to an entirely new audience – one that they would have otherwise never reached. Hearn, the most recognisable promoter in boxing, recognised that. Alongside Paul and the American’s younger brother Jake, KSI had ushered in the era of ‘influencer boxing’. KSI flourishes as new-age entrepreneur KSI, for his part, has mastered the art of self-promotion, but he is now trying to turn that outwards, too. Now 29, with more than 30 million subscribers, seven billion views and a reported net worth of over $25m, KSI returned to boxing in August. At London’s O2 Arena, he stopped rapper Swarmz and pro boxer (in loose terms) Luis Alcaraz Pineda on the same night. Notably, the event was the first staged by Misfits Boxing – a promotion created by KSI in partnership with the established Wasserman Promotions and streaming platform Dazn. Another more unlikely partnership followed, as the mutually antagonistic KSI and Logan Paul launched the energy drink Prime together. For reasons that – beyond the international awareness of the YouTubers – are difficult to discern, the drink flooded through the nation and off shelves, selling out in many stores and ultimately being banned in some schools in the UK, US, Canada, Australia and South Africa. It has, however, attracted sponsorship deals with Arsenal FC, the UFC and WWE, with KSI appearing alongside Paul at this year’s WrestleMania. Trying the drink on Heart radio, Gordon Ramsay said: “Oh, Jesus. It’s like swallowing perfume. What would I give it out of 10? A zero.” KSI came under starker criticism just last month for his use of a racial slur in a YouTube video, which led the 29-year-old to apologise and visit a Mosque in Bradford – an effort to educate himself on the matter. “There’s no excuse, no matter the circumstances,” he wrote on Twitter. “I shouldn’t have said it and I’m sorry. I’ve always said to my audience that they shouldn’t worship me or put me on a pedestal, because I’m human. I’m not perfect, I’m gonna mess up in life, and lately I’ve been messing up a lot.” Fighting into the future Fans will hope that KSI’s preparations for his next fight will keep him out of such trouble, though his progress has been gradual. His form is lacking, but his power is impressive. This weekend, he will test his attributes against Joe Fournier. The 40-year-old, a former pro boxer with a 9-0 record and an exhibition defeat by David Haye in 2021, got his start in the fitness industry before moving into the nightclub business. Perhaps those are areas for KSI to conquer one day; it would not be a surprise. For now, however, his boxing endeavour takes priority and takes him back to the O2 Arena. JJ had his school in stitches during a rendition of Sweeney Todd; KSI will hope to have Fournier’s head in stitches come Saturday night. Click here to subscribe to The Independent’s Sport YouTube channel for all the latest sports videos. Read More KSI vs Fournier live stream: How to watch fight online and on TV this weekend Mark Zuckerberg wins first jiu-jitsu tournament, takes home multiple medals Why is BT Sport being rebranded to TNT Sports? Eurosport merger explained When is the KSI vs Fournier fight? Start time, undercard and more How to watch KSI vs Fournier online and on TV this weekend What is an exhibition fight and how is it different to a professional bout?

Rafael Leão summed up AC Milan’s mood pretty succinctly

Barcelona is on the cusp of winning its first Spanish league title since the traumatic departure of Lionel Messi

The jacket that Michael Jordan famously and grudgingly wore while receiving an Olympic gold medal has been in Brian McIntyre’s possession for more than three decades now

The NFL announced four selected games for the 2023 season on Wednesday, including a first-ever Black Friday match-up between the Miami Dolphins and the New York Jets.

There is still much to play for in the Premier League with two weeks remaining

Belgian cyclist Remco Evenepoel had a tough day at the Giro d'Italia on Wednesday after the world champion and pre-race favorite was involved in two crashes, the first involving a dog.

Schalke, Leipzig and Cologne are the three teams standing between Bayern Munich and the Bundesliga title

The Golden State Warriors beat the Los Angeles Lakers 121-106 in Game 5 of their Western Conference semifinals playoff series to keep their season alive.

Sweltering deserts, giant rainforests and dangerous wildlife are just some of the hurdles that Russell Cook says he'll encounter as he attempts to complete the gargantuan task of running the length of Africa.

On a night of thrilling sensory overload, it is Internazionale left with the feeling that matters most: victory, and in the match that matters most. That it was 2-0 at the San Siro, from the most thrilling of starts, went some way to finishing this Champions League semi-final when it had barely begun, putting Simone Inzaghi’s fine cup team on the brink of the grandest final in club football. It still could have been much worse for AC Milan, who badly missed their best player in Rafael Leao. It meant they had no answer – either at the back or front – to Inter’s individual stars. Edin Dzeko and Henrikh Mkhitaryan plundered lightning bolts of early goals. One of a few remaining hopes for Milan is that Leao’s return can spark a comeback that had some embers in that second half. There was also the almost irrational manner that Inter started the game, as much borne of the emotion of everything that was happening as any imposed idea. The same can happen in the second leg, especially since Milan were the “home” side here. Stefano Pioli at least has to ensure they believe that. That’s what much of this came down to, as the entire occasion ratcheted up to something that went beyond a sporting spectacle. These two teams didn’t just come together for a historic derby in the most prestigious of competitions. They came together for something bigger. This was in truth a deeply rich cultural occasion as much as a sporting fixture, the profound history of the latter context enriching the former. It was also a truly sensory experience. The noise and colour were of another plane, vintage sights and sounds like those huge Italian banners being waved like battle flags amid raucous chanting afforded a new air. There is something important to that. These are two grand clubs who had largely been left behind by the forces enveloping the wider game, but who were still picked off by such interests. It was understandably cast as a semi-final that only happened due to the luck of the draw, with the prize for the winner being the misfortune to get well beaten by the victor of the “real” final in the actual final. Even some of the players had a Europa League feel, a combination of Premier League has-beens and Premier League yet-to-bes. And it still produced an occasion unlike anything the Champions League has experienced in recent years. It was deafening. It was also, fittingly for something so sensory, entirely organic. The owners of major clubs – be they equity firms, states or industrialists – may be seeking to buy this but it is something that can only come from the history and context. Imbued in that stadium-wide roar that greeted the final “champions” of the competition theme was the shared history of 10 European Cups each. As to the present, and who will enjoy the prize of that next Champions League final, it was Inter who initially attacked with that atmosphere much better. They were going with the vivid flow of it all, actually playing to the occasion in a way that arguably better suited them. The two opening goals were vibrant illustrations of this, Milan apparently unable to even impede a briefly unstoppable force. For the first, a Hakan Calhanoglu corner was acrobatically turned in by Dzeko in what felt like one unbroken move. For the second, the effervescent Federico Dimarco just surging through to set up Mkhitaryan for the finish to a flowing move that just seemed to sear through Milan. It was at that point that Inter looked like they would score with every attack, the physical force of their individual stars looking better equipped for the occasion than Milan’s more methodical system. That system was also frequently at the brink of breaking down, like when Simon Kjaer and Fikayo Tomori again got themselves into the most awful mess dealing with a Lauturo Martinez run. It was just as well the Argentine decided to go down, ensuring the penalty was ruled out, and Milan were not yet out of the tie. Mike Maignan did a good enough job of that himself, producing at least two brilliant reactive saves. The contrast between the approaches did condition the game further, though, and actually ensure Inter weren’t far out of sight too early. With Inzaghi’s side primed to respond to Milan with individual bursts, it was little surprise that Pioli’s system began to assert itself more in general play – even if he did have to bring Junior Messias on for Ismael Bennacer to ensure that. Brahim Diaz started to run the game. Sandro Tonali hit the post. Messias shot when he should have passed. This was where they were missing their own star in Leao. The Milan crowd behind Andre Onana’s goal could sense something. They tried to draw with more sensory overload, the end glowing demonically with red flares, a firecracker loudly exploding. There was no late eruption from Milan, though. They kept to the system without ever cutting through. Their fans still roared encouragement at the end. Inter’s players ran to theirs. This isn’t over. It might just take a while for anyone watching to get over. Read More The Milan derby crowns Serie A’s return - here is why it means so much more AC Milan are back – but not as how you remember them Man City vs Real Madrid is the ‘real’ Champions League final Milan derby creates thrilling sensory overload that shows how football should be AC Milan vs Inter Milan LIVE: Champions League semi-final result and reaction False 9? Edin Dzeko shows the value of an old-fashioned centre-forward