Logan Paul vs. Floyd Mayweather: Could this fight be a swing and a miss?
We are just days away from seeing Logan Paul fight Floyd Mayweather in an exhibition boxing match billed as “Bragging Rights”. Paul, twenty-six, is a social media influencer and Youtube personality who’s recently been shifting his focus to the world of boxing. Mayweather, forty-four, is one of the greatest boxers in the history of the sport, with a professional record of fifty to zero.
The fight may be one of the strangest match-ups in boxing, and it’s certainly one of the most anticipated. The exhibition takes place June 6th at the Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens Florida, and it will be available to watch, pay-per-view, on Showtime. We’ve got all the pre-fight details you need right here.
Why fight?
It’s reasonable to ask why either Logan Paul or Floyd Mayweather would want to take on this fight. Paul has relatively no fighting experience. His only previous fight, which he lost, was an amateur match in 2018 against fellow YouTuber KSI. Mayweather retired back in 2015. Since then he’s fought, and easily won, two exhibition matches against Conor McGregor & Tenshin Nasukawa.
That said, both men are entertainers, and there’s plenty of entertaining to be done with this match. Paul has over 23 million YouTube subscribers, and he’s built his brand on being a brash, semi-offensive internet troll. Mayweather, a skilled promoter, has been the driving force behind some of the most-watched pay-per-view matches in history, including his fight against McGregor in 2017.
The match will be pure spectacle, but neither fighter has any reason to want it to be anything more than that. They both stand to make a huge chunk of money from the fight. While the exact figures remain undisclosed, each fighter will receive a percentage of the pay-per-view revenue on top of a base purse. Mayweather will make more, of course, but for Paul, content is king. He’s in it for the views.
Speaking to ESPN, Paul said, “I have no interest in being cruiserweight champ of the world. I don’t care. My goal is to be the biggest entertainer on the planet. And putting on big fights and big shows as a freelance fighter is a good way to do that”. He sees this fight as just the tip of the iceberg, and reportedly wants to pursue more exhibition matches and even a jump to MMA after his match against Mayweather.
Face-off
When Logan Paul squares off against Floyd Mayweather, he’ll need to be prepared. The match isn’t a “true” fight, so there will be no judges and no official winner declared. Despite that, knock-outs are allowed, neither man will be wearing headgear, and they’ll fight for eight three-minute rounds. Mayweather’s last fight, against Tenshin Nasukawa in 2018, ended in a first-round knock-out.
Paul is eighteen years younger, six inches taller, and fifty pounds heavier than Mayweather. That hardly matters, say most. Very few people expect anything other than a Mayweather victory. Former professional boxer and boxing commentator Roy Jones Jr. officially gave Paul a zero percent chance of victory.
Fighting against the odds is the whole point for Paul. In a recent YouTube video hyping the fight, Paul said, “If I win, it’s the greatest upset in the history of combat sports. Time stands still . . . If Floyd Mayweather wins, nothing happens. No one cares. Congrats, bro, you beat a YouTuber”.
Mayweather likely doesn’t care either. He’s a world-class fighter, entertainer, and promoter. He knows a good opportunity when he sees one, and he stands to make a killing off a fight that could last a single round. Beating Paul likely won’t be any more challenging for Mayweather than his morning workout. Of course, anything can happen in the ring. Sunday will show for sure.
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Who do you have your money on, Jake Paul or Floyd Mayweather? Tell us in the comments!
