When Joe Fournier put it to the plate, the umpire was standing over his head while making a 10 count, he knew something had gone horribly wrong.
Seconds earlier, he saw the 40-year-old businessman turned boxer KSI swing and miss with a punch followed by an elbow. The elbow connected, Fournier went down, and the fight was stopped. KSI celebrated his victory by knockout despite the illegal shot that ended the contest.
“If I see the replay, when the hook goes through, I look at his glove,” Fournier told MMA Fighting on Monday. “I knew the glove wasn’t hitting me, because I was looking at it. My eyes were open. And then the elbow came next, so obviously I knew it wasn’t a glove. I knew it was an elbow.”
“I actually thought [the referee] He was about to disqualify him, then he started counting. like what? That’s when I tried to get up, and then I felt a little foggy. I was up at nine, but my foot wasn’t all there, and the referee stopped it, and I’m like, what’s this? I went back to the dressing room and watched the replay, and it was clear as day.”
The controversial finale of the Misfits Boxing 7 card was in London. The headline was supposed to be KSI’s toughest test, and a potential showdown against Tommy Fury loomed on the horizon. Instead, his victory by knockout was immediately called into question when replays showed it was an elbow rather than a punch that ended Fournier’s night.
Afterward, KSI addressed his disappointment in a statement, acknowledging that the win was “stained” by what he called “accidental contact” with Fournier with his forearm.
Fournier has already appealed the result with the Professional Boxers Association; A decision is expected no later than May 19. But he mocks KSI’s words regarding the knockout.
“As far as I can see, he definitely took a hook under my right arm and threw that elbow,” said Fournier. “This is a Muay Thai move, and he’s training in the gym with all the MMA guys. You don’t want to accuse people of things, but I’m very surprised to see it’s exactly the way it was, which was the Muay Thai elbow, rehearsed beforehand. He says it’s It was an accident. I don’t know. It doesn’t look like one to me.
“They’re all bulls***. He knew he didn’t hit me, he knew I didn’t get hurt. He knew it was a clean elbow. He knows what he did. There’s clearly a PR machine behind him telling him what to say.”
While replays clearly showed the illegal shot that ended the fight, Fournier still could not understand how the referee did not see it in real time given his position.
“If you look at him from behind,” Fournier said, “you’ll see he’s taking an underhook with his left arm under my right arm, and thrusting me into the elbow.” If you actually watch it from the back version, with my back to the camera.
“The crazy thing is, the referee is right there. He’s there. He’s less than a foot away at a perfect angle when looking at the elbow. I don’t know what he was looking at.”
As much as KSI said the elbow strike was accidental, Fournier isn’t buying it. That’s part of the reason he hopes the PBA will overturn the result to a disqualification rather than a non-compete.
“For me personally, I see it as a disqualification because obviously he elbowed me, and that ended the fight,” said Fournier. “If it didn’t happen, I guess I was messing with my rhythm. I didn’t land an elbow like that on accident, not even in sparring. How many fights do you see ending with an elbow like that? Nobody. So, it’s obviously intentional.”
After the end of the fight, Fournier says his immediate concerns were effectively ignored so that KSI could prepare for a showdown with Fury, who was sitting ringside for the event. Fury has a win over Jake Paul, one of KSI’s biggest competitors over the past two years.
Fournier hopes that the confrontation will not be at his expense.
“That’s kind of what bothered me so much,” he said. “It’s kind of like, I’m not a kid, you can’t disrespect me like that. I’m not a fresh face, 16-year-old in my first pro game. I was on the scene, and it was obvious what happened, so they’re just trying to brush it under the rug.” But I won’t allow that to happen.
“They’re trying to get over it like, ‘Let’s hope everyone forgets about it so we can fight Tommy Fury and make money again.'” That’s all they think. But at the end of the day, when you’re a top-level fighter, you’ve seen a lot of people, even their fans say they’re bulls***. How can you not talk about it and how do you celebrate that win? Real champions don’t want to win that way. No. They want to win by cheating. I haven’t even received an apology. It’s not a win at the end of the day. It’s a mistake.”
Ideally, Fournier wants to remove the loss from his record (it’s been billed as an exhibition bout), and would gladly welcome a rematch against KSI, though he doubts that will happen.
Fournier said he already sees the writing on the wall that they will likely never meet again even if a rematch is to answer questions left from their first meeting.
“How are you going to say that you are superior to me and the result will be the same – it is complete nonsense,” said Fournier. “I already said he hit me cleanly in the first round with a big right hook, I walked right through it and smiled and said let’s go. That’s the power you’re talking about? I guess they knew they weren’t going to get me out of there and resorted to dirty tactics. Not surprising. Muay Thai background sports.Does not train in a boxing gym.
“It’s like my win has been tarnished now. No, you’re just trying to brush something under the rug. Be a man.” [say], “I elbowed him, we need to get him back on.” I already said ok, cool, if it was an accident, restart it. Why don’t you take it back? I would welcome a rematch. But this elbow needs to be brought to justice. Elbow gate [but] They’ll want to move on to the next fight with Tommy Fury, and they’ll want no rematch because they’re pretending nothing of the sort happened. If they don’t want to do a rematch, I’ll probably fight Jake [Paul]. “