The AnEsonGib–Slim Albaher headlined Misfits and DAZN: X Series 19 concluded at Doha’s Lusail Sports Arena. Aside from the main event, the influencer boxing card was packed with an array of thrilling fights. The show culminated uninterruptedly. Controversy, nevertheless, did surface along the way. The light heavyweight bout between Salt Papi and King Kenny ended in a third-round knockout loss for the Beta Squad member. But the lead-up to the early stoppage seems to have divided some of the fans.

Strictly speaking, a left uppercut did the job for Salt Papi. But the way his hand connected with King Kenny’s face left a few followers confused. Did Papi’s elbow cause the KO? Clips from the match, especially the knockout, have been doing the rounds across social media. King Kenny also joined the fray, expressing his doubts. Some of the users nonetheless didn’t feel so and apprised him of the reality as they saw it.

Salt Papi vs. King Kenny: An ending open to interpretation

Tagging everyone involved—Salt Papi, King Kenny, and the Misfits Boxing—a user attached the KO footage and tweeted, “It was an elbow from Salt Papi #saltpapi #kingkenny #Misfits019.” Cutting in, King Kenny also remarked, “Am I bugging, or is that not an elbow?”

Both King Kenny and Salt Papi started aggressively. Where the Beta Squad member maintained distance with his jabs, the Filipino YouTuber would immediately close in, countering from his southpaw stance. Mostly restricted to the ring center, after two close rounds, the fight moved to the third. The initial few moments saw the two testing each other. With barely half a minute into the round, Salt Papi, while moving backwards, threw a left as King Kenny lunged forward.

The shot connected neatly. A right hook followed, but Kenny’s left hand deflected it. The latter subsequently lept onto the ropes. As the referee completed his count, Kenny stood up. However, he appeared unsteady when asked to move forward. That was enough for the referee to stop the fight.

Embrace the outcome with poise

Let’s check what a few fans had to say about King Kenny’s knockout.

This fan made it clear: “His glove made contact first.” Hence they advised King Kenny to accept the loss with grace. If possible, he could claim a rematch to set the record straight: “Take it fairly and come back for a rematch then.”

Similar advice followed. Where there are wins, there will be losses as well. “

Brother, please don’t take your L this way. You win some, you lose some. Salt caught you with a clean punch. You’ll be back and better,” said this fan, emphasizing that Salt Papi won fair and square.

“

Glove hit first,” the next fan stated matter-of-factly. Interestingly, one of King Kenny’s former opponents, Adam Brooks, also joined the discussion. Stressing that Salt Pai’s win was legit, Brooks went back to their May fight and recalled how Kenny held his head while throwing uppercuts. However, he never complained because he knew Kenny was the better fighter that day.

“

No, it was a clean uppercut. Be humble; I was against you, and you clearly held my head 3 or 4 times and uppercutted me. I’m man enough to say I wouldn’t have won anyway; you were better… Salt was better tonight. You’ll bounce back; you’re talented,” said the well-known broadcaster and boxer.

Finally, a user reasoned that even if it was an elbow, the point is that it was totally unintentional. “

Even if it was, I don’t think it was intentional at all,” said the user, adding, like many others, that the gloves touched King Kenny first. “He definitely got you with the glove first, though. Just stepped into the shot, so the impact was just going to multiply.“

A casual review of the left punch that dazed King Kenny suggests it might have been Papi’s elbow that made contact. However, closer and repeated analysis could indicate otherwise.

For Salt Papi, it was a third consecutive win by early stoppage.

The turnaround followed last year’s losses to Anthony Taylor and Slim Albaher. For King Kenny, it’s been a mixed bag of a journey in celebrity boxing. Like Papi, he also suffered a third ‘L’ at the hands of Anthony Taylor last year. Things started looking bright when he stopped Adam Brooks at X Series’ 14th edition in London. However, as it appears, Salt Papi may have pushed him back to square one.

What about you? Do you also feel that Salt Papi’s elbow caused the KO?