Dillon Danis has just pulled out of his upcoming boxing match against YouTube personality KSI on January 14th, 2023. The news that Danis has withdrawn from the match will no doubt come as a shock to those who have been paying attention to the situation, as he was publicly stating that this fight would be the first of at least four in 2023 only a matter of days ago. There has been no word from Danis or his camp at the time of writing to explain why he has withdrawn from the fight, but KSI’s manager Mams Taylor released a statement about the cancellation:
“The real reason is, from what they said to me, is that he’s underprepared. He has no coach. He might be struggling with weight even though there’s no rehydration. He has not been able to find a team that’s going to support him to bring him into the fight and obviously he’s got some other issues I think.”
While it’s always worth taking what an opponent or their manager says with a pinch of salt, it’s worth remembering that several combat sports stars have spoken about how Danis cares more about staying in the public eye than his actual competition success. Taylor actually addressed this as well, and explained that he was warned this might happen during the build-up:
“It’s very sad and unfortunate because he didn’t reciprocate the respect that we’ve given him. He’s clearly embarrassed that he’s in this position and – look, who knows what he’s going to come out with and say, but I’m disappointed because I never thought that someone who cares about his reputation as much as he does or what people think of him, I didn’t think that this would be something despite many people saying the opposite, that he’s not going to show up to the fight. They were right.”
It seems as though KSI and his team did prepare for Dillon Danis to pull out from their scheduled boxing match however, as they’ve quickly managed to replace him. Now, KSI will be facing FaZe Temperrr in the main event of MF x DAZN: X Series 4 instead. FaZe Temperrr was originally scheduled to compete against a ‘mystery opponent’ at the event, but has stepped up on short notice. Fans have already begun speculating that he was always intended to be a back-up option if Danis did withdraw from the fight.
The MF x DAZN: X Series 4 event, headlined by the boxing match between KSI and FaZe Temperrr after Dillon Danis pulled out at the last minute, will be available to watch live on January 14th on DAZN, click here to subscribe and watch.