Tom Zanetti: Leeds DJ reveals why he quit midway through his highly anticipated fight with Jarvis Khattri

Tom Zanetti has explained why he left the boxing ring midway through his highly anticipated bout with Jarvis Khattri.

The Leeds-born DJ, 37, went head-to-head with the American YouTuber, 21, in the quarter final of the World’s First Youtube Boxing Tournament on Saturday (22 April).

However, Tom quit in the third round of the five-round fight at the Wembley Arena in London. The next day, he took to Instagram to explain that he was proud of himself for going to “war” regardless of the physical and mental setbacks he had before the High Stakes tournament.

Sharing a photo with his bruised opponent, Tom wrote: “I’d rather at least fight and lose if I have to, than pull out of a fight last minute. People on this side all saw that last week was a real nightmare for me physically and mentally due to confirming two days before the fight I had a recently fractured septum that became quite severe and blocked my nose airways permanently.

“I just couldn’t post anything online - but I still got in, and we still went to war for 3 hard rounds until I just couldn’t be arsed risking any longer, you could blatantly see I was f*cked. I did what I could for everyone to be happy and the show to go on. I managed to walk away healthy and so did Jarvis. That’s all that matters.”

The 32-year-old explained that he “could never” pull out of a fight, knowing how it felt when his last three opponents had done that to him.

He continued: “After paying for 3 camps because 3 opponents in a row pulled out on me i know how it feels and could never do that. Then then putting 50k into charity from my first fight wage, I finally got a nice payday for my sacrifices out of this boxing game 😼”

The DJ also congratulated his opponent, adding: “honestly a big well done to Jarvis, your a proper juggernaut, and you are not to be underestimated 👑”.

He was praised by a number of YouTubers-turned-boxers, including his opponent Jarvis, who led the comments with: “A true warrior in the ring mate👏 I have a lot of respect for you inside and out of the ring. Thank you”.

FaZe Sensei wrote: “Many fighters in your situation would’ve never made that walk. Happens all the time in the pro mma/ boxing world. Only those who have done it truly understand.”

John Hedges Jr added: “Fair play Tom boy💙”

Whilst Kingpyn Boxing, who organised the High Stakes Tournament, commented: “A true fighter! Time for the redemption arc 🧡”

After losing to Jarvis, Tom will now face American YouTuber Austin McBroom, who lost to British YouTuber AnEsonGib, for the semi-finals round for the High Stakes Tournament. The bout is scheduled to take place at 3Arena in Dublin, Ireland on Saturday 3 June 2023.