Soulja Boy has softened the hostility behind his public boxing challenge to Kai Cenat, but he has not withdrawn the offer to meet the streamer in the ring.
The rapper recently targeted Cenat with a series of insulting social-media posts before challenging him to a boxing match.
Days later, Soulja Boy told TMZ Sports at Los Angeles International Airport that the aggressive callout had been created for online content and that he had “nothing but love” for Cenat.
He nevertheless maintained that a real fight would attract a large audience, described it as an easy payday and predicted that he would win in the first round.
Soulja Boy Said the Hostility Was Not Serious
Soulja Boy explained that he had been provoking Cenat for entertainment rather than expressing genuine personal animosity toward the Twitch star. His earlier posts presented the situation much differently. As documented in Complex’s report on the challenge, the rapper directly insulted Cenat, accused him of being a clone and dared him to fight.
One post containing the boxing challenge drew more than 1.6 million views within roughly a day, while another insulting message surpassed 2.1 million views. When TMZ Sports approached him at LAX on August 3, however, Soulja Boy acknowledged that he had been “jawing” at Cenat for content.
He Remains Open to a Boxing Match
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Soulja Boy told TMZ that he would still participate if an event could be organized. He described the potential fight as a “huge” spectacle and said the matchup could generate an easy payday for those involved.
“I’ve been training crazy,” he said. “So, I’m definitely ready, he don’t wanna see it.” When asked how the contest would end, Soulja Boy predicted that he would become the first rapper to knock Cenat out in the ring.
Streamer University Helped Start the Conflict
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After Cenat announced the program’s return in June, Soulja Boy publicly requested an invitation and warned that the two would be “beefin” if he was excluded. When an invitation did not appear to be coming, the rapper announced a competing concept called Rapper University.
Soulja Boy later promoted the program as a livestreaming series intended to teach participants about music, branding, marketing and building an online community. Cenat’s second Streamer University ran from July 15 through July 20.
The multi-day creator event offered workshops, collaborative projects and networking opportunities to accepted participants and streamed through Twitch and YouTube. Soulja Boy was not included among the students or instructors.