Mayweather and Paul go the distance in a predictable and laughable fight
Floyd Mayweather and Logan Paul participated in the biggest farce in the sport since Mayweather defeated Conor McGregor in 2017
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Boxers and boxing fans alike were rightfully skeptical when there was first word of a fight between Floyd Mayweather(50-0, 27KOs) YouTuber Logan Paul (0-1). Many decried the fight as another attempt from Mayweather to make money, a skill that he has perfected over the years. The fight, which faced delays due to Covid-19, took place on Jun. 6 at the Hard Rock Stadium in Miami.
The undercard started with another exhibition fight between Chad 'Ochocinco' Johnson and Brian Maxwell. Ochocinco showed off decent footwork and even managed to hit a few fine punches. As could be expected, the fight was more of a slugfest than a proper boxing bout and the highlight was when Maxwell hit Ochocinco with a perfect right hook which sent the former wide receiver sprawling to the ground. To his credit, Ochocinco was able to recover and bounce back quickly, and then the fight ended shortly after.
The main exhibition took place at the end of the night, and after a musical performance by Migos, both Mayweather and Paul were in the ring, and the bell was sounded. In the first round, it was obvious that Paul was inexperienced but not completely without skill. Mayweather simply kept his distance and felt out his bigger opponent. It was your run-of-the-mill opening round until Paul went on a heavy offensive tossing big punches left and right at Mayweather, who was unsurprisingly able to power through and finish the round.
As the fight continued towards the later rounds, it was clear that Paul lacked the stamina to compete with Mayweather, he became drenched with sweat, and his already amateurish footwork turned sloppy. While Paul was winded and slowing down, the former five-division champion looked as fresh as ever after eight rounds. Throughout the fight, the two men traded blows, and it seemed that despite his larger size, the YouTuber was unable to cause any serious damage to Mayweather.
"He's better than I thought he was," Mayweather said of Paul. "... I was surprised by him tonight. Good work. Good little guy."
Paul was, however, successful in stopping Mayweather's momentum and using his height advantage to cut off his opponent's punches. With Paul gassed, he started to clinch more and more. The final half of the bout slowly ground to a conclusion that was sure to disappoint.
Though this was an exhibition fight without a winner, both men won the night as Mayweather took a reported $10 million and 50% of the PPV sales and Paul taking $250K and 10% of the PPV sales.