Boxing

Misfits & DAZN “X SERIES 003” Full Card Preview

Photo of Ben Jamieson Ben Jamieson | 09:00 19/11/22
Image for Misfits & DAZN “X SERIES 003” Full Card Preview

KSI’s ‘Misfits Boxing’ has seen great success in its first few months. Their debut event in August produced some of the best knockouts in influencer boxing so far, and their smaller second show went as well as could be expected considering detrimental occurrences outside the control of the promotion. They had a hand in the recent Floyd Mayweather exhibition against Deji, and just six days later will throw the third edition of their “X SERIES” with DAZN. 

Hosted in Austin, Texas; this will be the first show in the series to take place outside of England. In alignment with the Texan clichè, two big heavyweights will serve as the main event. MMA legend Vitor Belfort was originally booked as one half of the headlining bout, but has been replaced by fellow UFC alum Greg Hardy. He will face 12-1 professional boxer Hasim Rahman Jr. Those who tune in will also be the first to find out who KSI’s opponent will be on the fourth installment in January 2023.

Hasim Rahman Jr. vs Greg Hardy

Hasim Rahman Jr. has ingratiated himself into the celebrity boxing world since his scheduled fight with Jake Paul collapsed at the last minute earlier this year. He most recently competed in April when he took his first professional loss to the son of another recognized name: Kenzie Morrison, son of former WBO and IBC heavyweight champion Tommy Morrison. Greg Hardy recently made the jump from MMA to boxing when he was knocked out in three straight UFC bouts and cut from the promotion. Hardy’s only experience in professional boxing came last month when he knocked out Mike Cook just fourteen seconds into the second round.

Hardy looked surprisingly sharp against Cook. He has put on weight since his time in the UFC, but possesses a natural athleticism evident from his five years in the NFL. He’s far from a technical whiz, but Rahman Jr. will be in there with 300 pounds of big, angry brawler with a point to prove. This will likely be the most difficult test of Rahman Jr’s career, having spent most of it spanking bums. Hardy is coming in on a few days notice. Rahman Jr. is a lifetime boxer with a full camp. Despite the near 70 pound weight difference, he should be expected to win.

Deen The Great vs Walid Sharks

The lower weight classes in the influencer scene have been harder to populate as much of the talent available has a fair amount of prior boxing experience. This matchup continues the trend. Deen The Great became the ICB North American Welterweight Champion in his last outing against Evil Hero, when he knocked him out in the first round. Walid Sharks made a name for himself in the underground influencer scene when he drew with Adam Saleh in 2021. A short online back-and-forth led to this booking as Deen seeks to build on his title reign. 

Both of these fighters are fast and agile, but Deen The Great has definitely shown a higher degree of talent for the sport. He has high capability both offensively and defensively—he is the most skilled influencer boxer as far as can be seen. While Sharks has clearly put time into the craft, he is a Golden Gloves competitor and lacks the slickness so evident in Deen’s game. He will need to step up in a big way to stand a chance here.

Josh Brueckner vs Chase DeMoor

Experience is the biggest factor in an influencer boxing match. So many fights will be years vs weeks in terms of training time, and it usually ends badly. Here we have a professional mixed martial artist with past boxing matches, taking on a guy with a single exhibition match against another debutant. “G.I” Josh Brueckner has already competed as a professional on seven occasions, while Chase DeMoor steps from reality TV into combat sports—lateral move, of course. He does have a 50 pound weight advantage though. This is for the ICB Heavyweight Championship, so buckle in and get ready for some brain damage.

King Kenny vs DK Money

King Kenny’s boxing career has been something of an oddity. He has walked out of arenas with two wins, but only one of them stood—and everyone thought he lost that too. He has faced difficult competition in both FaZe Temperr and FaZe Sensei, but has struggled to do much besides jab. His mechanics are great for such an inexperienced fighter but he is extremely limited, possibly scared. DK Money is most known in boxing for being immediately and deliberately headbutted by Ryan Taylor earlier this year. In the very brief time he was in the ring, he was swatting punches and looking sloppy. If Kenny finds some vitriol deep in his soul, this is easy money for him. 

FaZe Temperr vs Overflow

FaZe Temperr returns to the ring less than three months after being brutally knocked out by Slim Albaher on the first show in this series. He looks to complete the classic FaZe double-kill on Overtflow, with FaZe Sensei having stopped him in 2018. This will be Temperr’s third fight, and while he hasn’t looked dead-in-the-water at any point (except when he got bounced off the ground like a just-caught fish), he has a lot of improvements to make. He looks comfortable at the long jabbing range his reach allows him to fight from, but loses all composure when it’s time to trade. Overtflow is mostly a grappler, but isn’t lost on his feet. He was switching stances and pumping the jab well almost five years ago, and hasn’t stopped training. He is the far less popular fighter, but he’s probably going to win. 

Minkon vs Nick Joseph

Taking on all comers is the name of the game in influencer boxing. You might get matched up with a basketballer, a bodybuilder, or a Tiktoker. Minikon completes that exact trifecta here. He has shown himself game, and, having so far been reserved to lesser promotions, is rewarded with a spot on the biggest one available to him. He is coming off a strange no-contest against Nick “Swaggy P” Young that ended when Young fell through the ropes and had to retire. Nick Joseph makes his boxing debut here. He has a considerable size advantage at 288 pounds, a factor that plays an even bigger part in a fight between two newcomers.

Fangs vs 6ar6ie6

Two more OnlyFans girls go from knockers out to knocking out. A double debut and the only womens fight on the card, it’s a coin flip on how this one goes. Fangs, formerly FangBanger, has been making FIFA videos on YouTube for over a decade. She was heavily associated with KSI and his circle when he was involved in that scene, but took to pornography when views on her gaming content sunk. Her opponent, 6ar6ie6 (pronounced “Barbie Three Sixes”) is a TikTok lip sync-er, known for wearing makeup. Immense talent is pulsing from both sides of this contest. In fairness to these women, they didn’t look awful on the pads, considering.

Brandon Buckingham vs Ice Poseidon

If there’s one thing we’ve learned from influencer boxing, it’s that the Dunning–Kruger effect is absolutely real. These two “fighters” likely have about nine gym sessions between them. But yet they showed up to the presser with the confidence of a man going on “Robot Wars” with a Panzerkampfwagen. Ice Poseidon walked to the stage carrying a balloon, he was just missing the red nose and clown outfit to go with it. Buckingham on the other hand kicked off the show by asking if he could face off with KSI. That’s not how it works Brandon, you only do that with the person you’re fighting. Anyway, this is one of the fights that will probably happen.

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Ben Jamieson
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