Floyd Mayweather fails to beat Logan Paul as the YouTuber-turned-boxer survives eight bruising rounds

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Floyd Mayweather, one of the greatest boxers of all-time, made light work of a complete and utter novice here on Sunday night in his first appearance since an equally straightforward triumph over a Japanese kickboxer in December 2018.

Logan Paul, of YouTube fame, is adept at being obnoxious yet throw him into a ring with a five weight world champion and, all of a sudden, the 26 year-old doesn’t look too clever or funny at all.

With this event classed as an exhibition, there were no judges ringside yet if there had been, Mayweather would have run out an easy winner.

Time and time again, Mayweather sucked in his opponent before making him pay.

Paul took his beating on his feet though and walked away with a reported $26milliom (£14m) pay cheuqe. Mayweather’s is said to be worth in the region of $100m (£70) when all the pay-per-view numbers are accounted for.

Official purse figures are usually made public by the sanctioning commission, but the Florida State Boxing Commission hasn’t released any because it was an exhibition. Whatever the true amount, both have inflated their already bulging bank accounts from this crazy venture.

Floyd Mayweather admitted he may never fight again after failing to defeat Logan Paul in their exhibition fight.

No winner was declared in Sunday’s eight-rounder in Miami as Paul defied the odds to go the full distance.

Mayweather, 44, played down his failure to stop Paul and said that it could be the last time he ever steps into a ring.

Speaking after the fight, he said: ‘I wanted to give people a show and he was fighting to survive, he was the bigger guy but his background was wrestling so was good at tying me up.

‘Just going the distance was a win for him. He can grapple and was good at holding. When a guy that size is holding you, it’s hard to get him off you. I had fun, he did too. It was cool.

‘A guy that’s retired, training a few days a week, for me to be retired, be a grandfather and fight a guy in his 20’s. When the money comes, we will see who the winner is.

‘I am going into the Hall of Fame, I have nothing to prove. If they are happy with grappling and holding for eight rounds, that’s good for them. I hope the fans were pleased. I have been in this sport for so long, I was letting people see I can come out at the age of 44 and bring 30,000 to the stadium and bring good pay-per-view numbers.

‘I am not going to perform like I was 19, it’s all about growth and aging. I can’t fight like when I fought people like Gatti and people like that. It’s sad Pacquiao is coming out to fight again.

‘I could have pressed really hard but it was fun. His whole goal was to survive and that was a win for him. If he’s happy, so be it. In the history books I will always be the greatest.

‘Will I make a comeback? Absolutely not. I have retired from the sport of boxing. I probably won’t do an exhibition again either.

‘If he would have fought more, it wouldn’t have lasted eight rounds. I am just blessed to build a legacy and build a fortune from it. I have made some smart investments and everything is paid for. We did what we had to do tonight.’

 

Image credit: Getty Images and USA Today Sports

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