Who Is Salt Papi? Boxing Record, Weight and Next Fight

Although influencer boxing often gets a bad reputation in the mainstream boxing world, Nathaniel Bustamente — who is better known as Salt Papi — is an example of everything that’s good about this strange yet popular segment of the sweet science.

The Origins of Salt Papi

Salt Papi created a social media following based around applying salt to food, not unlike another internet darling, “Salt Bae,” an attractive man who went viral a few years back from pouring salt on food in strangely erotic ways that people on the internet could not get enough of. These memes then made Salt Bae popular, and became something he could further monetize.

While Salt Bae has used his internet fame to become the owner of overpriced restaurants, Salt Papi — the Filipino sensation who relocated to England in his teenage years — has used his internet fame to become an influencer boxer.

With over 5.4 million followers and 188 million likes across all his TikTok videos, it is clear Salt Papi knows how to attract attention to himself. Yet, that doesn’t take away from the fact that Salt Papi has got some serious boxing skills, as well.

He has become a very credible fighter, and commonly seen star of the odd Misfits Boxing cards on DAZN. And as the influencer boxing space continues to grow, Salt Papi’s popularity continues to grow along with it.

Salt Papi Weight and Fighting Style

Weighing 210 lbs before his first fight, Salt Papi took to boxing once he signed to fight against Halal Ham, an internet comedian, in March 2022. In fact, Salt Papi lost 30 pounds in preparation for that fight.

Salt Papi won that fight, and the fame he gained from performing well propelled him into a new stratosphere. Since that win, Salt Papi has fought four more times; all of which have occurred under the Misfits banner.

However, prior to his most recent match against Slim Albaher in October 2023, Salt Papi underwent another massive transformation. He lost an additional 50 pounds since his March 2022 fight, which has him now weighing about 160 pounds.

Yet, that weight loss didn’t keep Salt Papi from suffering a KO loss to Albaher.

That marks two straight defeats for Salt Papi, whose fame has begun to plateau as a result. Then again, considering the humble beginnings that Salt Papi started from, he’s really playing with house money at this point. Not to mention that he’s still making an impressive amount of money, each time he fights for Misfits boxing.

Salt Papi is in ASSASSIN mode, and Ferrari is the job 👀🎯

UNINTERRUPTED drops at 6pm on YouTube, as redemption begins for @therealsaltpapi 🧂

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— Misfits Boxing (@MisfitsBoxing) April 28, 2024

What Makes Papi So Popular Online?

What once made Salt Papi so appealing to his audience is that he was a chubby Filipino fighter who was knocking out buff white dudes in boxing. Just that sight in itself makes people fascinated by Salt Papi, and then when that’s coupled with his charismatic personality, funny videos, and boxing ability, it makes sense why Salt papi has become one of the faces of influencer boxing.

Salt Papi Next Fight

After losing his most recent fight against Slim Albaher in October, Salt Papi is now set to make his return against Amadeusz Roślik on May 11, as part of the MF & DAZN X Series 14 card.

This was an extremely surprising matchup for Salt Papi. Considering that he is coming off of two straight defeats, it might have been wise to match him up against an inferior fighter, in order to build his confidence back up and get fans interested in him again. Yet, Roślik has been training martial arts for most of his life, having fought in 10 professional MMA matches. He also has multiple exhibition and sanctioned boxing bouts, and is overall much more experience than Salt papi.

Therefore, there’s definitely a good chance that Salt Papi is going to lose for a third straight time on May 11 — which could perhaps come by devastating fashion.

Then again, if Salt Papi manages to win this upcoming fight, then his ascent toward superstardom might continue.

And there’s certainly a chance that Salt Papi could emerge victorious. The money he has made in these last few years (both in fighting for Misfits, and on social media, as a result of his influencer boxing notoriety) has allowed Salt Papi to turn his whole life into boxing.

While Salt Papi is still a comedian at heart, his social media platform now contains more empowerment, personal growth content that proves how he is trying to be an inspiration for those who have been overweight or counted out in their lives. He also does a lot chronicling some behind-the-scenes footage of fight week.

All of which is to say that Salt Papi has made the most out of his social media moment. And considering that he seems like a genuinely good person who is trying to motivate and inspire others to strive for the best version of themselves, we’re certainly rooting for Salt Papi to get back on the winning track on May 11.