Was it a farce, or was it entertainment? You can decide, but what was the fight between one of the greatest boxers in all history and a YouTube personality ended today in a predictable fashion as Floyd Mayweather used all his skill and talent to dance around Logan Paul for eight rounds without a knock-out.
As we all know, the 44 year old Mayweather had retired from professional boxing with a perfect 50 wins from 50 fights with 27 by knockout, but somehow came back to the ring for an eight-round “exhibition fight” against Logan Paul, a YouTube personality with 66m social media followers!
It’s hard to believe that someone of Mayweather’s caliber, having beat the likes of Manny Pacquiao, Canelo Álvarez and Ricky Hatton and who has a Hall of Fame boxing career, actually stepped into the same ring as Logan Paul who has to his credit a single fight, which he lost!
Despite differences of nearly 20 years, four inches in reach and 34lbs in height to Paul who, at 189lbs, was the heaviest fighter he had ever faced, Mayweather demonstrated his defensive skill and reflexes ensuring that Paul’s slow and clumsy technique didn’t land a `lucky blow’.
Every boxing enthusiast who has followed the 44 year old champ knows that Mayweather could have ended the fight in the 4th or 5th round if he wanted to. However he didn’t. Mayweather \knows his audience and he let them have their money’s worth as the fight went the full distance to the 8th bell.
Inexperienced Paul though, tried to use his heavier weight as advantage to manhandle Mayweather by unleashing a flurry of punches which, however energetic they were, were all neither clean nor accurate to land on their target. In the second round, Mayweather let Paul throw a few jabs but, with a half-smile, easily dodged them as the giant tired himself out. Paul’s biggest mistake though, was in the fourth round when he landed a few blows on Mayweather who attacked with blows that sent Paul groggy and continued the onslaught in the fifth.
Paul, to his credit, remained upright. However, was it Mayweather than held him and propped him up ? Mayweather was never in serious trouble and by many accounts actually knocked out Paul twice with savage rights, however on each occasion held him up so that he didn’t hit the floor.
By the end of the fight, Paul had landed 28 of his 217 punches, while Mayweather had connected on 43 of his 107.
Of course there were no judges and no official winner was therefore declared, although for anyone scoring at home, Mayweather racked up enough points to easily have been declared winner if there had been the traditional three judges.
“I had fun, I’m not 21 anymore,” said Mayweather. “He’s a great, young fighter better than I thought he was. He’s a tough raw competitor, I was surprised by him tonight.” Then Mayweather remembered who mattered: “I want to thank all the fans who came out, I want to thank the fans who bought pay per view.”
When asked if there would be another fight, Mayweather simply said he didn’t know and although he is no longer 25, that time would tell,
Paul, meanwhile, looked like a man who was relieved to still be standing while also collecting a respectable tidy sum.
“It’s one of the greatest moments of my life. I’m happy to have made it out,” he said.
And of course the money is what it’s all about ; while the fight was a tad questionable, the ability of both men to make money is certainly not. Mayweather is estimated to have made $100m alone from his 2017 fight against the UFC star Conor McGregor, and is said to have walked away with $128Mil for this one. Paul on the other hand, who made his name as a Youtube prankster alongside his brother Jake, is already a multimillionaire at the age of 26 and earned a smaller however still respectable $18Mil for this bout. The fight had sold for $49.99 on pay-per-view and took place in front of a live audience of thousands at Miami’s Hard Rock Stadium.
Mayweather word additional advertising on his shorts which according to reports earned him another $30Mil, and although we’re not sure why yet, also advertised OnlyFans on his hat. He was however his usual flamboyant self entering the ring in an alligator skin gown, getting out of which was about as tough as the evening got for the champ!
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