After a vigorous eight rounds, as expected, Floyd “Money” Mayweather looked dominant but aged against YouTube star Logan “Maverick” Paul in an exhibition boxing match Sunday (June 6) at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, FL. There were no judges ringside to score the fight, however most boxing analysts believe Floyd was the victor. In a Showtime poll, 81% of responders believed Mayweather won as well.
Floyd, of course, is a former five division world champion with a pristine boxing record of 50-0. And although he is 18 years older, at least five inches shorter and weighed in nearly 20 poundSs lighter than Paul, Floyd came to fight. Paul did too. He landed some shots on Floyd in the first round and caught the champ’s chin a couple times in the fourth round. But from round four on, Paul looked extremely fatigued. According to Showtime, Mayweather landed more punches at a higher percentage than Paul. Floyd landed 43 out of 107 punches , while Paul connected on just 28 out of 217.
After the fight, Floyd called Paul a “great young fighter” and admit “he was better than I thought he was.” “I had fun,” the champ said after the bout. “I’m not 21 anymore but it’s good to move around with these young guys, test my skills just to have some fun.”
Before the fight, Floyd talked about the match being a “no win situation.” “If I knock him out early they gon’ complain, if I drag it a little bit they gon’ complain,” he said. “You can never please everyone. As long as you happy, you know? I’m just happy to be back on the big stage having fun once again. I talked about this before, all throughout this week, I’m retired from boxing but I didn’t retire from entertainment and I didn’t retire from making money.”
“Money” Mayweather is reportedly supposed to rake in up to $100 million off the fight, while Paul could pull in as much as $20 million. After the fight, Paul called the fight “one of the greatest moments” of his life. He praised Floyd and said it was an “honor” to box against him. “I don’t want anyone to tell me anything is impossible ever again,” Paul said. “The fact that I’m in here with one of the greatest boxers of all time proves that the odds can be beat … Everyone has it in ‘em. Everyone can beat the odds and do great things in life and I want everyone to know that. That’s the message I’m hear to say.”
Before the fight, Paul said he was “uncomfortably calm.” “None of it makes any sense to me I’ve stopped trying to comprehend life and I just know that anything can be done,” he said. The fact that this fight is even happening proves that anything is possible. Knocking out Floyd Mayweather is just another step, why not do it?”
Unfortunately for fight fans, there were no knockouts or even knock downs during the bout. Because they both finished standing up, some considered the match to be a loss for Mayweather. Fox Sports analyst Skip Bayless tweeted “Floyd Mayweather Jr. should be ashamed of himself. He couldn’t even knock down the you-tuber, let alone knock him out.” And Paul’s baby brother Jake tweeted “50-1” referencing Mayweather’s untarnished boxing record.
Check out some of the highlights below: