Logan Paul stunned the world of boxing tonight by going the distance with all time great Floyd Mayweather, proving haters wrong who have been calling for his head on social media leading up.
The two made the walk to the ring just prior to 4am UK time, going head to head under the hot lights of the Hard Rock Stadium, and under the watchful eyes of the world. Paul looked by far the larger of the two but struggled to get anywhere near Mayweather – who looked rapid on the feet. The GOAT played it safe for the majority of the first round, bopping on the back foot and looking for the counter to no avail, and it was actually Paul who won the first, with a flurry of aggressive punches at the death of the round.
Mayweather responded in the 2nd though, and looked more aggressive – controlling the centre of the ring for long periods. However, Paul’s evasive skills were on display for a capacity crowd to see – Mayweather failing to hit him clean at all. It was certain that Paul had worked hard on defence over the last three years.
The third was different water altogether as Mayweather closed the distance further, forcing Paul to make the fight a dirty one. Plenty of blows were exchanged in the clinch, including a nasty uppercut from Paul and a heavy right hook from ‘Money’ for good measure, but both failing to have any lasting substance on the fight itself. Paul started to definitely look more tired after nine minutes had gone by, taking some deep breaths in the corner when the round was up.
Fatigue well and truly showed in the fourth for Paul, while a fresh Mayweather walked him down and teed off with joy. The Maverick spent the most part of the round with his back to the ropes trying to tie Mayweather up, but the 50-0 great was straight back on top of him when the referee forced a break.
Paul showed a granite jaw in the fifth, standing up to a couple of good cracks from Mayweather – including a shattering overhand right and a nasty uppercut with a minute to go. He also showed sheer grit determination, refusing to fall apart despite relentless pressure from ‘Money’. He also showed further fatigue when the sixth began though, reluctant to get back to the action.
Paul was warned for holding at the end of the round by the referee, but started the seventh in the same fashion – almost clinging on for dear life due to his gas tank depleting. Mayweather obviously had words for him towards the end of the round, looking frustrated at the internet superstar’s dirty tactics who just wanted to get on with the scrap.
Paul somehow has managed by this point to silence his critics, surviving to the eighth and final round – and by this point had ditched his tactics over the last three, instead going head to head with the GOAT – searching for a knockout. Mayweather also followed suit, but somehow when the final bell rang – both men still stood tall.
With no technical winner or loser due to the rules of the exhibition bout, no official scorecards were read and no winner was announced. However, it was clear that Mayweather outclassed the YouTuber on the night.
Although it’s no secret Mayweather outscored Paul in striking, the YouTuber can definitely take a lot of pride that he managed to take the fight the distance with arguably the pound for pound greatest in the world.
Many casual fans of the sport have described Mayweather as a boring fighter due to his recent ‘point-scoring’ technique, in which he fights on the outside and wins contests on significant striking and damage done – which is fair enough, as the tactician has in fact only achieved two KO/TKO victories in his last ten, one of which being a questionable doctor’s stoppage over UFC mega-star Conor McGregor due to fatigue.
However, tonight Mayweather looked the antagonist and it was Paul who played it safe to prevent a sure-fire knockout.
When you look at the calibre of opponent Mayweather has put to the sword in the past, it comes as no surprise that he made light work of the YouTube sensation when the two finally met inside the squared-circle for their exhibition bout tonight. The self-proclaimed ‘greatest of all time’ now sports a flawless 52-0 record (inclusive of his now two exhibition fights), including big name wins over stiff competition in Manny Pacquiao, Canelo Alvarez, Oscar De La Hoya and Ricky Hatton to name but a few – all of which having their own legacies behind them.
So when Mayweather was faced with a social media star with a professional record of 0-1 prior to this bout – who had never stepped foot in the ring with someone on ‘Money’s’ level, the veteran jumped at the opportunity to silence a new generation of boxing fans while making a boat load of money in the process.
Last month Paul revealed that he would take home almost $20 million from the fight alone, whereas Mayweather would be taking home five times that amount in $101 million. That of course, is excluding lucrative sponsorship deals which will line the two fighters’ pockets further.
However, with that being said – credit is due to Paul for lasting for the duration of the bout, forcing Mayweather to go toe to toe with him the whole way. Paul showed fierce determination against arguably the best in the world, and despite missing out on the night, the internet personality has accomplished something that many combat sports veterans have failed to do – including Conor McGregor who was stopped in the 10th round due to fatigue in his bout with ‘Pretty Boy’ in 2017.
It’s no secret that Paul’s brother Jake, who is both younger and more experienced in the fighting game will probably find himself in the picture to fight Mayweather next, as the two have been at each other’s throats for the duration of the build-up to tonight’s event.
The 24-year-old fellow YouTube star found himself in hot water when he stole Mayweather’s cap during a pre-fight promotion, trying to childishly flee from the situation to no avail. Instead, Mayweather and his team stopped Jake in his tracks, allegedly leaving him battered and bruised from the altercation.
JP then took to social media to mock the incident, getting the words “gotcha hat” permanently engraved onto his skin in the form of a tattoo.
Jake, who goes under the moniker ‘The Problem Child’ is no joke however, and currently holds a perfect professional boxing record of 3-0, – all wins coming by knockout – over fellow YouTuber AnEsonGib, NBA star Nate Robinson and former Bellator Welterweight Champion Ben Askren.
With Jake set to face Tyron Woodley in the first of his three contracted professional fights under the Showtime umbrella, a win over such a prestigious UFC opponent would surely not only boost his credentials further, but also put him in the picture to fight against Mayweather and achieve payback for his brothers arguable loss tonight.
Is that a fight you would like to see, or do you think boxers should fight fellow boxers and YouTubers should stick to YouTube?