Turki Alalshikh proposed Deontay Wilder fight to KSI, says Mams Taylor

Turki Alalshikh proposed matching KSI with former WBC heavyweight champion Deontay Wilder, according to the British influencer’s manager, Mams Taylor, who says he immediately ruled out the fight on safety grounds.

Alalshikh and KSI met in London after their involvement in promotional work for Fatal Fury: City of the Wolves, which sponsored two Riyadh Season cards. Taylor said Alalshikh encouraged KSI to move away from bouts with other influencers and instead face established fighters in the United States.

Wilder, one of the heaviest punchers of his generation, was among the names raised during those discussions.

“I think Turki wants to kill off all the YouTubers!” Taylor joked in an interview with The Sun. “No, I think Turki’s a great guy; he’s very passionate about boxing, and Deontay against KSI. I mean, it’s a funny old world if that happens some day. But when I heard that story that day, I was like, ‘We’re not doing that. We’re not doing that!’”

Alalshikh had taken a firm public stance against influencer boxing in January 2024, saying: “We don’t want any YouTuber fight again.” His discussions with KSI’s team, however, involved matching him with recognised names from boxing or other combat sports rather than arranging another conventional influencer bout.

Those conversations also led to talks over a proposed fight between KSI and former UFC champion Conor McGregor at Alcatraz. Taylor later said KSI’s team negotiated directly with Alalshikh and agreed terms, while KSI confirmed that the contest had been lined up before it fell through.

Taylor: ‘Not on my watch’

A fight with Wilder would have represented a considerable increase in both size and risk for KSI, who has not boxed since losing a majority decision to Tommy Fury over six rounds in Manchester in October 2023. Wilder, by contrast, remains an active heavyweight and has recorded 43 stoppages in 45 victories.

“Sometimes, you’ve got to protect people you care about, and it’s not always about the cheque,” Taylor said. “If KSI really said, ‘I want to do it,’ I would equally come back with the same amount of force saying, ‘No, you can’t. Not doing this, not on my watch.’”

KSI entered boxing through his rivalry with Logan Paul, drawing their amateur contest in 2018 before winning the professional rematch by split decision the following year. He later became one of the leading figures in Misfits Boxing, stopping Swarmz, Luis Alcaraz Pineda and FaZe Temperrr.

His knockout of Joe Fournier was subsequently overturned to a no-contest because the finishing blow came from an elbow. KSI then stepped up against Fury and suffered his first defeat.

Plans for him to return against former footballer Wayne Bridge in March 2025 ended when Bridge withdrew. Dillon Danis was drafted in as a replacement, but that contest was postponed after KSI became ill. KSI said in January that “when it comes to boxing, I’m done”, before clarifying the following month that he was “not retired” and was taking a break to concentrate on YouTube.

Taylor compared the proposed Wilder fight with Jake Paul’s December 2025 heavyweight contest against Anthony Joshua, which was sanctioned by the Florida Athletic Commission. Joshua stopped Paul in the sixth round, leaving him with a broken jaw. The event was promoted by Most Valuable Promotions and streamed by Netflix rather than staged under the Riyadh Season banner.

“Jake was very brave and ballsy to take the fight he did, but he suffered a broken jaw in two places for it,” Taylor said. “It’s a big paycheque, but you’ve got to decide if it’s worth it or not. Something like that was always going to happen with Anthony Joshua. I don’t think anyone who’s not deluded thought Jake had a chance in that fight, but he had balls to take it. Joshua really didn’t hold back, and he really could have hurt him a lot worse, too.”

Wilder suffered consecutive defeats by Joseph Parker and Zhilei Zhang before stopping Tyrrell Herndon in June 2025. He then edged Derek Chisora by split decision over 12 rounds at London’s O2 Arena in April 2026, taking his record to 45-4-1 with 43 knockouts.

Alalshikh has previously backed crossover contests involving accomplished fighters from other disciplines, including Francis Ngannou’s boxing matches against Tyson Fury and Joshua. Oleksandr Usyk’s May 2026 title defence against kickboxing champion Rico Verhoeven followed a similar model, although both men brought considerably more elite-level combat experience than KSI.

Taylor’s account indicates that KSI’s team had no intention of pursuing Alalshikh’s proposal.