Anthony Joshua told KSI “not to listen to coaches” in Logan Paul rematch

YouTube star KSI defeated Logan Paul in their infamous 2019 rematch, but was given some dodgy advice by two-time world heavyweight champion Joshua in the build-up

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Anthony Joshua offered YouTube star KSI some questionable advice ahead of his win over Logan Paul in 2019.

The British social media star, whose real name is JJ Olatunji, defeated Paul by split decision in their infamous rematch at the Staples Centre in Los Angeles.

And Joshua told his fellow Watford native that he should “not listen to his coaches” when he stepped into the ring with Paul, which his strength and conditioning coach Leon Wills believed was “mad advice”.

Wills recounted the outlandish advice during an appearance on the What’s Good Podcast, saying that Joshua had made contact in the lead-up to the fight.

“Before the JJ vs Logan fight, JJ talked to AJ,” Wills said. “And he said ‘yeah, just do what you want, don’t listen to your coaches’ – that’s mad advice!”

And co-host Simon ‘MiniMinter’ Minter said that during a trip to Dubai before the fight, he had heard stories of Joshua expressing his support for Paul.

The American was heavily favoured going into the bout given his size and athleticism, but ultimately came up short after he had two points deducted for a shot thrown after dropping KSI.

“AJ was in Dubai,” Minter added. “This was before the first or second fight and he was like ‘yeah, Logan’s my guy, he’s a big guy and I think he’s going to win,’ and I was there going ‘I thought a Watford boy would want JJ to win’.”

Wills said that he was happy Joshua wasn’t more involved in his countryman’s camp, because he likely would have taken the advice more seriously.

Paul had learned his basic boxing skills from veteran coach Milton Lacroix, but opted to allow former heavyweight champion Shannon Briggs to train him for the bout, despite never having coached before.

And it ultimately proved a fruitless endeavour, with Briggs leaving the Paul camp shortly after and Lacroix returning to his role as Paul’s head trainer.

“If AJ started coming around to training and what not, JJ wouldn’t listen to our advice any more,” Wills explained.

“AJ is the heavyweight champion of the world, it doesn’t mean he’s a good coach, it just means he’s been there, done that and that’s the thing you find that happens.

What do you make of Anthony Joshua’s unusual advice for KSI? Let us know in the comments section below!

“So Shannon Briggs turns up [in Paul’s camp] and he’s loud, aggressive, you think he knows what he’s talking about.”

KSI opted not to box again after his win over Paul, instead turning his focus entirely to a rap career that has proven wildly successful, with a string of top 10 singles and two of the biggest albums of 2020 and 2021.

Paul’s brother Jake would later turn professional and fight four times, while Logan opted to instead work on projects behind the scenes before eventually facing Floyd Mayweather in an outrageous exhibition match.

The YouTube star went the distance with Mayweather in Miami this summer, and is expected to return to the professional ranks against Nick Diaz next summer.