Tag Archives: Floyd Mayweather

Posted on 06/22/2021

By: Hans Themistode

Oscar De La Hoya wasn’t kidding around when he said he wanted to make his return to the boxing ring. After spending several months getting his body back into fighting shape, the former six-division world champion is finally ready to place his skills back on display.

First up, is a September matchup against former UFC champion, Vitor Belfort. Should things go the way he’s expecting, De La Hoya wants to move into the next phase of his master plan.

“I want to make the biggest comeback in boxing history,” said De La Hoya during an interview with Chris Mannix on DAZN. “I want to get two of these fights down under my belt and get the timing ready and everything, and then my third one, I want to call out Floyd Mayweather.”

While De La Hoya’s news may have made sports fans giddy, CEO of Mayweather Promotions in Leonard Ellerbe wasn’t amused in the slightest. As for those who are envisioning the two share the ring one more time, Ellerbe shot down all hopes of that ever happening.

“Absolutely not,” said Ellerbe on The Jake Asman Show on SportsMap Radio. “It’ll never happen. There’s zero interest in doing that.”

Following a 2007 split decision loss at the hands of Mayweather, De La Hoya has always been acrimonious towards him. The “Golden Boy” would end his career one year later as he suffered a one-sided eighth-round stoppage defeat at the hands of Manny Pacquiao. As for Mayweather, his career would span another decade. Along the way, he picked up win after win before finishing his career with an undefeated record of 50-0.

While the two haven’t crossed paths since, the pair have thrown verbal haymakers at one another through the media over the years. Mayweather, 44, may have hung up his gloves for good in 2017 but as he put it, “I haven’t retired from making money and entertaining the fans.” That entertainment stretched to his most ring outing.

On June 6th, at the Hard Rock Stadium in Miami, Florida, Mayweather took on social media star turned de-facto boxer, Logan Paul, in an eight-round exhibition. The prevailing thought process heading in was that Mayweather would easily stop the YouTuber before the final bell. That, however, didn’t occur.

Considering that Mayweather appeared to be a shell of his once dominant self, De La Hoya believes that the newly inducted Hall of Famer now has a chip on his shoulder.

“I think Floyd after that exhibition he did with Logan [Paul], I think he feels like he has to prove something once again inside the boxing ring,” said De La Hoya.

While those around the boxing world have criticized Mayweather for his failure to get his man out of there and appearing a step slower, he laughed all the way to the bank as he recorded over one million pay-per-view buys for his showdown against Paul.

With the numbers that Mayweather vs. Paul accumulated, Ellerbe simply believes that De La Hoya is attempting to piggyback off his success.

“Oscar De La Hoya is just trying to use Floyd’s name to build some buzz about whatever he’s attempting to do and nobody’s really paying him any attention.”

Posted on 06/08/2021

By: Hans Themistode

At one point, a matchup against Floyd Mayweather was all Jake Paul could talk about. The former social media star turned professional boxer always believed that a showdown between them would do huge box office business. Yet, after watching his older brother, Logan Paul, take on Mayweather this past weekend, Jake doesn’t see the point in facing him anymore.

“That’s old news, my brother already beat him,” said Jake Paul to a group of reporters following his brother’s eight-round exhibition contest against Mayweather. “My brother beat Floyd Mayweather. Let him die off, he’s old. I mean bro, I would fuck him up. He’s getting old, my brother just fucked him up.”

Contrary to what Jake continues to say, there was no official winner when the two faced off this past Sunday night at the Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Florida. Their eight-round exhibition was billed as purely an entertainment spectacle as no judges were present during the entire contest.

Still, despite that, Jake cheered for his older brother from his ringside seat and was proud of what he accomplished. While Logan did appear to have success early on, Mayweather began picking him apart during the middle and latter portion of their contest.

Those sentiments, however, would be rebuffed by Jake. Watching his brother’s success was something that didn’t surprise Jake in the slightest. He was, however, taken aback with something else he believes he saw take place.

“Yes,” said Jake when asked if he expected his brother to pull off the win. “I didn’t expect him to wobble him though and to have him hurt in multiple rounds. It wasn’t just one round, it wasn’t just one time, he hurt him multiple times.”

In spite of Jake’s words, at no point did Mayweather seem to be hurt. In fact, it was Logan who on multiple occasions appeared to be on his way to hitting the canvas.

With no official scorecards to go to, Jake claims that not only was he watching their showdown but he was also keeping track with his own scorecards in his head. Following the conclusion of the entire event, Jake revealed exactly how he tallied the scores.

“It was five rounds to three, Logan Paul wins.”

Posted on 06/08/2021

By: Hans Themistode

With Floyd Mayweather considered as one of the greatest fighters of all time and Logan Paul considered as one of the best social media stars in the world, many believed it was virtually impossible for their exhibition to go the full eight-round distance. Yet, that is exactly what happened.

In front of roughly 30,000 fans at the Hard Rock Stadium in Miami, Florida, both Mayweather and Paul went toe to toe. Leading into their matchup, the overwhelming thought process was that there was simply no way Paul would make it to the final bell. However, after doing just that, Paul has considered it a victory of sorts.

As fans have attempted to grasp how in the world Paul lasted 24 minutes with the greatest boxer of his generation, most have concluded that he actually didn’t. During an awkward sequence at the end of one of the earlier rounds, Mayweather landed a hard right hand. From there, Paul then went in to clench. Skeptics of that exact sequence have said that Paul was actually knocked out but held up by Mayweather. Well, according to Paul, that simply wasn’t the case.

Floyd accidentally knocked him out and held him up to keep the show going lol pic.twitter.com/FQYN1LQX11

— Teej 🚀🚀 (@StockzNCrypto) June 7, 2021

“I’m seeing this narrative go around,” said Paul during a self-recorded video. “Where there’s this one part of the fight where Floyd punches me and I kind of leaned on him a little bit and it looks like I kind of went limp. People are trying to spin it and say that he knocked me out and caught me and kept me up to keep the fight going until the eighth round. Shut the f*ck up. Just shut the f*ck up.”

To further back Paul’s claim, Mayweather came out himself and admitted that although he attempted to score the stoppage, the size and weight disparity was a bit more difficult than he anticipated.

“He can grapple,” said Mayweather following their exhibition. “He’s very, very good at holding. When a guy over 200 something pounds is holding you, I’m trying my best. Even though I have a lot of experience but it’s hard to get a heavyweight off you. I fight at welterweight fighting a heavyweight.”

As highlighted by Mayweather, Paul spent long durations of their contest holding and burning the clock. Under normal circumstances, excessive holding would result in the referee taking points away. However, with no official winner announced, there was no opportunity to do so.

In the end, regardless of what most observers believed would happen, Paul simply wants everyone to give him a bit of credit. He may have been outboxed for the vast majority of their contest, but when it’s all said and done, he went the distance with one of the greatest boxers of all time.

“Stop trying to discredit what happened,” continued Paul. “Make no mistake, he got a lot of good punches in. There’s a couple photos where I got f*cked up in a couple shots. I didn’t know my face could make that shape but never rocked, never blacked out, never obviously got knocked out. He didn’t help me up, he tried to take me out and he couldn’t.”

Posted on 06/07/2021

By: Hans Themistode

Despite both Floyd Mayweather and Logan Paul hyping up their showdown, there was never going to be an official winner. The two faced off in a David vs. Goliath sized exhibition contest at the Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Florida this past Sunday night.

Although neither man wore any headgear and despite their continued claims of hurting one another, according to the rules, no winner would officially be announced. Also, there were no judges sitting in their customary ringside position.

Still, regardless of the clear-cut rules, Paul believes that after going the distance against someone with the status of Mayweather, the rules go out the window as he did in fact win after all.

“I knew if it went the distance I won, technically,” said Paul at the post-fight presser. “But that wasn’t the game plan. When you’re fighting a guy like Floyd the legend, you’re kind of relying on him to figure out the game plan and just play off his. I think I got him with a good shot in that first round which threw him off a little bit.”

As previously mentioned by Paul, the social media star did enjoy moments of success early on. After attempting to feel out his man in the opening round, Paul threw caution to the wind and went for it. Having what appeared to be a weight advantage of over 60 pounds, Paul used all of it in the final seconds of the first round. He threw big shots at the retired Hall of Famer and seemed hellbent on getting him out of there before the end of the bell.

While the momentum may have been firmly in his corner, Mayweather quickly snatched it away as he found his rhythm. The speed and slick combinations may have been a touch slower than they were in his prime, but they were more than enough to push Paul back in the next round.

As the larger man began to tire, Mayweather appeared to be as fresh as a daisy. During the latter portion of their contest, Mayweather aimed for the knockout but with Paul continually grabbing and holding, he was unable to land the fight ending shot he was looking for.

Considering that the overwhelming majority believed that Paul would get knocked out in brutal fashion, he has no shame in admitting that simply leaving the ring upright was a victory in itself.

“Surviving against Floyd Mayweather is great.”

Posted on 06/07/2021

By: Hans Themistode

Floyd Mayweather sauntered his way to the ring with a large team walking firmly behind him. Once inside, he took off his prefight outfit and stood across the ring from Logan Paul. The two faced off in an eight-round exhibition contest this past Sunday night at the Hard Rock Stadium in Miami, Florida.

Just before the bell rang, Mayweather appeared to look the same. He was seemingly in great shape and the aura that has surrounded his career felt identical. Yet, once the action began, he looked drastically different. The otherworldly reflexes that allowed him to dip and slide out of the way of his opponent’s punches over the years simply weren’t there.

Known for his timing and defense, Mayweather was a bit off early as the much bigger Paul found small doses of success during the opening round. But, in typical Mayweather fashion, he managed to turn back the clock for short stretches. The newly inducted Hall of Famer would make Paul miss and immediately make pay.

Although he dominated down the stretch, Mayweather failed to score the stoppage or record a knockdown. Following the eight-round spectacle, Mayweather stepped to the post-fight podium smiling but speaking softly. While many were expecting to see the Floyd Mayweather that amassed a spotless record after 50 pro fights, the former five-division world champion simply shook his head and laughed. Though he may look the exact same physically, he acknowledged that the sublime skills he once had have eroded.

“Of course at my age, I’m not going to perform like when I was 19, I’m not supposed to,” said Mayweather during the post-fight presser. “Is my hair going to be all black forever? Absolutely not, when I get older it’s going to turn all grey and I understand that but that’s a part of life. Am I going to be able to fight like I was when I fought Diego Corrales or Arturo Gatti? Absolutely not and I understand that.”

In both of those instances that Mayweather alludes to, he looked spectacular in stopping both men.

For years, Mayweather appeared to be impervious to age. Even at 38, Mayweather looked as good as ever in defeating Manny Pacquiao over the course of 12 rounds in 2015. At no point has he ever looked vulnerable in the ring or a half step slower. With that said, he did last night. But that isn’t to point a critical finger in his direction. After dominating everyone that was placed in front of him over his two-decade-plus career, Father Time has simply tapped Mayweather on the shoulders. And although some of his fans have grown despondent over a fighter who is now a shell of his former great self, Mayweather isn’t interested in looking like a sympathetic figure. He fully accepts and embraces the position he is currently in.

“I’m almost 45 years old, I’m not going to be able to perform like 20 years ago, of course not. That’s a part of age but you age gracefully.”

Posted on 06/06/2021

By: Hans Themistode

It’s somewhat difficult to make a prediction for tonight’s eight-round exhibition contest between Floyd Mayweather and Logan Paul. Reason being is that technically, there will be no winner.

Later on tonight at the Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Florida, the pair headline a pay-per-view card in front of a jam-packed crowd. There will be no judges but knockouts will be allowed. With that said, a winner will not be announced at the end of their showdown.

Still, despite the wacky rules, both men have talked a good game. Paul has towered over the much smaller Mayweather during their fight lead-up and poked fun at his diminutive size. In his mind, he believes he could crush the former five-division champion with the flick of his finger.

Yet, whenever the YouTube star begins warning Mayweather that he’s picked on the wrong person this time, the newly inducted Hall of Famer simply laughs and counts to 50. That number, of course, represents the other men who have said something similar but were forced to eat their words when they realized defeating Mayweather is nearly impossible.

But, as mentioned earlier, there will be no official winner tonight. Nevertheless, Mayweather could opt to outbox Paul. The newly turned boxer doesn’t have the skills or experience to keep up in that department but it’s highly unlikely Mayweather decides to go that route. Having stopped Tenshin Nasukawa in the first round of their 2018 exhibition as well as UFC star Conor McGregor in the tenth round of their boxing vs. MMA showdown in 2017, there’s simply no way Paul makes it to the final bell.

From a physical standpoint, Paul has it all. He’s taller, longer, heavier and simply the much bigger man. But size doesn’t win fights, they never have and they never will.

A winner may not get announced, but going the distance will Logan Paul is as good as a loss for Mayweather. So don’t expect the big hulking physical specimen to reach the end of the eighth round.

It’s difficult to pinpoint when exactly it’ll happen, but at some point, Mayweather will make Paul question himself internally and before he’s able to answer and dig deep, he’ll be staring at the ceiling lights as Mayweather stands on the ropes screaming to the crowd.

Posted on 06/06/2021

By: Hans Themistode

In the eyes of many, there’s little to no doubt that Floyd Mayweather will walk into his contest against Logan Paul, the exact same way when he walks out. The retired former five-division world champion is set to take on the social media star later on tonight at the Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Florida.

Currently, Mayweather is pegged as the huge favorite. According to multiple betting websites, a bettor would have to plunk down roughly $1,000 in order to pocket $100 on Mayweather winning. As for Paul, he’s viewed as a long shot. For example, according to the betting market, a gambler could place a $100 bet on the former YouTuber and take home approximately $500.

The nature of the lopsided odds stems from Mayweather being considered arguably the greatest boxer of all time and Paul mostly thought of as a novice. Regardless of that notion, former heavyweight champion Shannon Briggs, simply doesn’t agree with it. In his mind, with the size advantage heavily in favor of Paul, no one should be counting him out.

“He got size and he got power so I like his odds,” said Briggs during an interview with FightHype.com. “I don’t know who’s going to win but I like his odds. Logan can punch, he’s a big guy.”

Although Briggs admits that he hasn’t spent any time with Paul during his training camp, he still vividly remembers what he’s capable of. Before Paul made his boxing debut against fellow social media star KSI in 2019, Briggs worked closely with him. He stood by his side during press conferences and kept an eye on him during his sparring sessions.

Needless to say, Briggs was thoroughly impressed with what he saw. While Paul would ultimately go on to lose that contest against KSI, he has spent the past few years working on his craft.

On one end, Briggs knows good and well that a handful of years in the gym won’t equal to the decades upon decades of work that Mayweather has under his belt. But while Briggs concedes the experience and overall skills department, he points to the one thing that Mayweather won’t have in his favor.

“Logan is a big strong guy and he can punch. His technique is very fit to fight a better fighter.”

Posted on 06/06/2021

By: Hans Themistode

Like most of the world, Zab Judah simply can’t wait to see former pound-for-pound star Floyd Mayweather take on YouTuber turned de-facto boxer, Logan Paul. The two are scheduled to face off against one another later on tonight at the Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Florida in an eight-round exhibition.

Although their contest has been promoted as purely an entertainment spectacle as opposed to an actual fight as no winner will be formally announced, many are incredulous that this contest is actually taking place. With Mayweather spending over 35 years in or around the boxing ring, Paul has recently picked up the sport just a few years ago. Despite that, Judah has spent plenty of long hours with Paul in the ring when the cameras weren’t rolling. And although it does appear at times that he’s making a mockery of the sport, Judah assures you that he’s doing everything right behind the scenes.

“I’ve seen him,” said Judah about Paul during an interview with VLAD TV. “I’ve watched his growth and I’ve seen his dedication. He’s really training. His body don’t tell no lies. He’s a white kid and he’s chiseled. He put in hard work and dedication.”

In addition to his hard work, Paul will walk into his showdown against Mayweather with several advantages working in his favor. For starters, Paul holds a six-inch height and four-inch reach advantage. Also, after weighing in yesterday, Paul tipped the scales 34.5 pounds heavier than Mayweather. And, with no hydration clause, Paul figures to weigh significantly more than Mayweather later on tonight.

Still, despite checking all of the boxes, no one in the boxing community believes the skills of Paul comes even remotely close to Mayweather’s. Everyone besides Judah. While he wouldn’t go as far as to say that Paul can outbox Mayweather but considering who he compared him to, Judah doesn’t believe it’s beyond the realm of possibility.

“He looks like a young Muhammad Ali,” continued Judah. “Watch how he box. I’m talking form-wise, dance-wise, just watch. I ain’t retarded, I know boxing. I’m not saying he is Muhammad Ali but his style mimics Ali.”

Posted on 06/05/2021

By: Hans Themistode

Although Floyd Mayweather has made more money than anyone in boxing history, he’ll look to pocket several more million this coming Sunday night. The newly inducted boxing Hall of Famer is set to take on YouTuber turned de-facto boxer, Logan Paul, at the Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Florida.

Having faced a long list of all-time greats and defeated them all, Mayweather is comfortably in the conversation for the greatest of all time. During his prime years, Mayweather toyed with his opposition before ultimately cruising to victory. According to CompuBox, Mayweather retired with the highest plus-minus in its history with +24.7. In addition to that, Mayweather’s opponent landed only 19.2% of their punches while he connected on 43.9% of his own.

Yet, despite the long list of superlative words used to describe Mayweather and his unbeaten career, CEO of Mayweather Promotions, Leonard Ellerbe, believes it could all go up in smoke if the unthinkable happens Sunday night.

“Honestly, his legacy is already cemented,” said Ellerbe during an interview with SecondsOut. “But if for some reason the incredible happens, which I don’t even want to think about, it would definitely tarnish his legacy. The last thing that Floyd would want to happen is to be the laughing stock of the entire world. Can you imagine if this dude hits Floyd with a shot and even drops him? Can you imagine? That’s what does make me nervous.”

During his near 25 year career, Mayweather has seldom if ever appeared hurt in the ring, let alone dropped. Yet, in order for Paul to win their showdown, he’ll need to take the fight straight to Mayweather. According to the rules of their contest, there will be no judges scoring the bout but a stoppage and knockout can take place.

While Mayweather was always known for his ability to hit and not get hit, his power was virtually nonexistent during the latter part of his career. Outside of the final fight of his career which took place against UFC star Conor McGregor in 2017, Mayweather hasn’t scored a stoppage win since 2011 against Victor Ortiz.

Still, not many are expecting Paul to land a significant blow against Mayweather. If, however, he does, Ellerbe believes it could be lights out for the former five-division world champion.

Contractually, Mayweather is set to tip the scales later tonight at approximately 160 pounds. As for Paul, he was given a weight limit of 190 but can rehydrate as high as he would like. Meaning, Mayweather could be significantly outweighed come fight night.

As Ellerbe stands back and analyzes the situation, he doesn’t like what he sees. Although he’s backed Mayweather for decades and still continues to do so, he admits that Mayweather isn’t the same fighter he used to be and that in turn could lead to a long and painful night.

“He’s working against a bigger man,” continued Ellerbe. “Logan Paul will be a heavyweight on Sunday night. So you have a welterweight essentially, boxing a heavyweight, any damn thing can happen. Floyd has all the skills but I’m realistic. He hasn’t done anything in four years. He keeps his body in fitness shape but not boxing shape and this guy has been working his tail off for the past couple of years. When you’re throwing punches with mean intentions, anything can happen.”

Posted on 06/03/2021

By: Hans Themistode

No matter how big, strong and physically imposing Logan Paul may appear, Floyd Mayweather finds the notion of the former YouTuber beating him in a fight laughable. The two are set to face off in an eight-round exhibition contest this coming Sunday at the Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Florida.

Despite giving up roughly six inches in height, four inches in reach and approximately 30 pounds in weight, Mayweather has stated on numerous occasions that their showdown will only go as long as he’s willing to allow. Meaning, if the newly inducted Hall of Famer chooses to get rid of Paul in the first round, he’ll proceed to do just that. Yet, in the mind of Paul, he doesn’t quite understand what gives Mayweather the right to walk around as if he’s a knockout artist.

While there’s no denying his overall boxing skills, when it comes to one-punch knockout power, Paul has a difficult time giving Mayweather any respect in that category.

“He hasn’t knocked anybody out in a decade and it was Victor Ortiz on some bull shit,” said Paul to a group of reporters. “Who did you knock out Floyd? I ain’t these guys. No offense, Victor is tough but I’m big and I can take a shot.”

The circumstances in which Mayweather stopped Ortiz, was in fact a bit awkward. After being penalized for head butting Mayweather during the fourth round of their contest in 2011, Ortiz attempted to apologize. Although Mayweather appeared to accept his apology, he quickly decked Ortiz when he seemingly wasn’t ready. He immediately hit the canvas and was subsequently counted out.

But while Mayweather wasn’t known for his power throughout his career, he did score a stoppage victory in recent memory. In the 50th and final fight of his career, Mayweather went on to stop UFC star Conor McGregor in the tenth round of their 2017 showdown.

Still, whether it comes by stoppage or not, Mayweather is carrying a major edge in terms of overall skills and experience. For Paul, on the other hand, having lost his pro debut to fellow YouTuber KSI in November of 2019, the 26-year-old hasn’t stepped foot inside the ring again.

With that said, that doesn’t mean he hasn’t been training every day to work on his skills. And while he admits that he doesn’t look the smoothest in his training videos, Paul remains confident in what he’ll be able to do come Sunday night.

“I can talk about my skills all day but it doesn’t matter. I can hit pads and look mediocre but until I’m in the ring, until I’m fighting, until I’m sparring – people don’t realize that I actually got good in the sport. People are going to be surprised.”

Posted on 05/12/2021

By: Hans Themistode

Canelo Alvarez is currently enjoying his time on top of the boxing world. The Mexican native is fresh off a dominant eighth-round stoppage victory over Billy Joe Saunders this past weekend. The win for Alvarez netted him another world title in the super middleweight division. Now, the 30-year-old is merely one belt away from becoming the first undisputed 168 pounder of all time.

While Alvarez is considered by most as the best fighter in the world, he still vividly remembers the night he fought Floyd Mayweather in 2013. The results were the same as every Mayweather fight, meaning, he dominated. At the time, Alvarez was still a fairly new face to the boxing world. The pound-for-pound star admits that he faced Mayweather entirely too young.

Now, however, with Alvarez feeling as though he has reached his peak, the unified super middleweight titlist believes that if they were both smack dab in the middle of their primes at the same time, the results would be vastly different.

“If we were both at our prime, our best prime, he’d have nothing to do with me,” said Alvarez during an interview with Graham Bensinger. “I’d knock him out.”

Since his lone defeat, Alvarez has gone on to win world titles at 160, 168 and 175 pounds. As for Mayweather, his career would carry on for another five fights, winning them all in one-sided fashion, before ultimately walking away from the sport. Shortly after his retirement, Mayweather was unsurprisingly inducted into the boxing Hall of Fame.

With his successful career officially behind him, Mayweather can’t help but laugh at the comments of Alvarez. Although the Mexican star continues to point to his age when he took on Mayweather, the 2020 Hall of Famer does the exact same.

“When Canelo fought me, he was in his prime. When I fought, I was an old man. I wasn’t in my prime when I fought Canelo, I was an old man.”

At the time of their showdown nearly a decade ago, Mayweather was considerably older at 36. Nevertheless, he easily outboxed Alvarez on the night. With Mayweather now set to return to the ring in an exhibition against YouTuber turned de-facto boxer, Logan Paul, on June 6th, he wants to put Alvarez in the rearview mirror and focus on the task at hand.

“I was an old man when I fought Canelo just like this right here. Even though I’m old, I got a lot of experience. I’m a go out there and just show him (Logan Paul) that this is the elite level and this is something totally different.”

Posted on 05/06/2021

All-time boxing great and 2020 International Boxing Hall of Fame inductee Floyd “Money” Mayweather will make his return to the ring as the undefeated, 12-time, five-division world champion squares off in an exhibition bout against social media sensation and pro boxer Logan “The Maverick” Paul, headlining a blockbuster SHOWTIME PPV event on Sunday, June 6. The anticipated clash pits superstars from two different worlds in a must-see showdown for sports and entertainment fans around the globe.

The event is presented by Mayweather Promotions, Fanmio and Mavathltcs and will take place at the Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, Florida. The pay-per-view event also will feature a pair of intriguing professional boxing showdowns, as WBA Light Heavyweight Champion Jean Pascal and two-division world champion Badou Jack meet in a 12-round rematch in the co-main event. Plus, former unified super welterweight champion “Swift” Jarrett Hurd returns to the ring to face Luis Arias in a 10-round bout.

In a fourth PPV bout, former NFL star wide receiver Chad Johnson will make his boxing debut in an exhibition match against an opponent to be announced. After years of off-season training with Mayweather in Las Vegas, the man once named Chad Ochocinco will test his skills in the boxing ring and bring his unique brand of fan-friendly entertainment to the star-studded event.

The pay-per-view telecast will begin live at 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT on Sunday, June 6.  Tickets for the live event at Hard Rock Stadium will go on sale next week with additional details regarding tickets and the pay-per-view telecast to be announced shortly.

Mayweather, who was elected to the International Boxing Hall of Fame’s Class of 2020, has a perfect 50-0 record with 27 knockouts. He racked up 12 world titles in five weight divisions during his illustrious career that spanned three decades. His brilliant boxing resume includes 24 wins over world champions, including Manny Pacquiao, Oscar De La Hoya and Canelo Alvarez. During his career, he was named the world’s highest paid athlete multiple times by Forbes, Fortune and Sports Illustrated. Mayweather has accumulated numerous “Fighter of the Year” awards, including five ESPY Awards and two Boxing Writers Association of America awards. His 2015 showdown with Pacquiao shattered the all-time pay-per-view television record with 4.6 million buys, a record that still stands. Mayweather last fought in a boxing exhibition on New Year’s Eve 2018 in Japan. His last professional boxing match was his 2017 stoppage win over Conor McGregor, the second biggest pay-per-view event in television history.  

As Mayweather dominated boxing en route to a perfect professional record and international stardom, Paul rose to fame on the internet. Paul, 26, welcomed the world into his life on various social media platforms including YouTube, where he has amassed more than 20 million subscribers. His legions of devoted fans supported him as he stepped into professional boxing in 2019 and sold out the STAPLES Center in Los Angeles in his six-round debut against fellow YouTube star KSI. The Ohio native is a former high school wrestling standout and has been training for more than two years. Now, he readies himself to face an undefeated boxing legend. While Paul stands six inches taller than Mayweather and owns an 18-year age advantage, the social media sensation will be challenging the best boxer of his generation, in his arena.

Pascal (35-6-1, 20 KOs) earned a narrow split-decision victory over Jack in their December 2019 title showdown that saw both men hit the canvas. Prior to that fight, Pascal captured his interim title by handing Marcus Browne the first defeat of his professional career. Pascal scored four knockdowns in that fight, eventually earning a close technical decision when a cut suffered by Browne on an accidental head butt stopped the fight after eight rounds. The 38-year-old has been in the ring with the top fighters of his era during his brilliant career, including Bernard Hopkins, Sergey Kovalev, Carl Froch, Lucian Bute, and Chad Dawson. Pascal, who was born in Port-Au-Prince, Haiti and now lives in Laval, Quebec, won his first light heavyweight world title with a unanimous decision over Adrian Diaconu in 2009.

Jack (22-3-3, 13 KOs) will look to avenge the razor-thin defeat he suffered to Pascal in their first match. Jack mounted an impressive rally on the scorecards that nearly turned the match in his favor. Born in Stockholm, Jack (who represented his father’s home country of Gambia in the 2008 Olympics) now lives in Las Vegas. Jack won the 168-pound world title with a majority decision against Anthony Dirrell in 2015 and successfully defended the belt three times before being handed a hard-fought majority draw against James DeGale in one of 2017’s best fights. In his first bout at 175 pounds, Jack stopped Nathan Cleverly to pick up the WBA light heavyweight title before fighting to a majority draw against then WBC champion Adonis Stevenson in May 2018. In his most recent outing, Jack won a unanimous decision over Blake McKernan in November 2020.

The 30-year-old Hurd (24-1, 16 KOs) unified the WBA and IBF 154-pound titles in 2018, dropping longtime champion Erislandy Lara in the final round to win a close decision in a fight that was the unanimous 2018 Fight of the Year. The Accokeek, Maryland native lost the titles in one of 2019’s best fights, dropping a decision to Julian Williams. Hurd first became champion in February 2017 when he stopped former champion Tony Harrison in the ninth round, before going on to defend the title against another former champion in Austin Trout. Most recently, Hurd scored a unanimous decision victory over Francisco Santana in January 2020.

Born in Milwaukee, Arias (18-2-1, 9 KOs) will return to the ring for the first time since August 2019 when he takes on Hurd on June 6. The 30-year-old has faced some of the best in the middleweight division, including going the distance with former middleweight champion Daniel Jacobs in a 2017 duel. Arias racked up wins in his first 18 pro fights after turning pro in 2012 and is now training in Las Vegas as he prepares for this fight.

Posted on 05/05/2021

By: Hans Themistode

Everything seemed to come together in the blink of an eye.

Newly inducted Hall of Famer, Floyd Mayweather, dropped a bombshell on the boxing world when he announced that he would be taking on YouTuber turned semi-pro boxer, Logan Paul. The two are slated to face off on June 6th, at the Hard Rock Hotel, in Miami Florida. The event has already forced the competition to move out of the way as undisputed lightweight champion, Teofimo Lopez, who was set to take on mandatory challenger George Kambosos Jr. on Triller one day prior, are seriously considering moving off of the date entirely as to not compete with Mayweather.

On the outside looking in, Mayweather’s showdown against Paul gives the impression that it was an easy one contest to make. A global icon in Mayweather alongside a rockstar in Logan Paul, simply screams dollar signs. With that said, it wasn’t as simple as many would believe. In actuality, it took years and someone with the audacity and street smarts to pull the trigger on the entire ordeal.

“Logan’s team reached out to me like two years ago,” said Dejuan Blake, CEO of affiliation management and the cousin of Floyd Mayweather during an interview on BoxingInsider podcast. “But it didn’t fall through during that time. It was actually Logan wanting to fight the KSI guy. We shopped it to Showtime but the Showtime deal didn’t fall through.”

Despite Showtime walking away from the negotiating table, Blake wasn’t entirely ready to leave Logan Paul in the dust. Unsure of the hidden gem he had at his disposal, Blake figured that his next best move would be to get closer to Paul. Yet, even after discussing things with him further, it wasn’t until Blake received what he originally believed to be an innocent phone call from his two daughters, that truly made the light bulb flicker on.

“I invited him to my recording studio in Vegas,” said Blake. “I posted a picture of me and him on my Instagram page and my daughters called me. My daughters at the time were six years old and they were like I’m with such and such. So when my daughters told me who he was, I looked at my boy who manages him right now and I said, this kid must be really fucking big if my kids, who are only six years old, are calling me about this mother fucker that’s in the studio with me. So with that being said, I knew something was there but Logan knew something was there before anybody. He knew this shit was going to work.”

From there, everything began falling into place for Paul. He would go on to face fellow YouTube star KSI on DAZN and generate major buzz for their showdown. With that, what first began as a whacky and extraneous idea, quickly turned into the multi-million dollar gravy train that it is today.

“It worked and they (Showtime) saw that it worked. They saw that it worked and they saw that it was going to generate the money. Now, this was just him doing it with just another YouTuber. They weren’t looking for another boxer at the time. They were just looking for another person who had the same type of following that they had but from another country. They put the two together and it was a blockbuster. They did some tremendous numbers and that was his leverage to shop this to other networks and platforms to showcase the talent.”

In totality, Logan Paul vs KSI generated 1.3 million pay-per-view buys worldwide, proving his star power. With Mayweather routinely producing millions upon millions of pay-per-view buys in his own right, it made financial sense for both sides to come together.

Although both Logan and his brother Jake, have essentially ushered in a new era of social media stars entering the boxing world, purists find their inclusion to be both a sham to the sport and their presence inconsequential.

Nevertheless, in the mind of Blake, times have simply changed. While there will always be room for more traditional boxing events, the insertion of YouTube megastars simply isn’t going anywhere.

“The wave is just different now,” explained Blake. “Who are we to tell somebody how they are able to go out there and feed their families? There’s going to be something bigger than this. One thing leads to the next.”

Posted on 05/03/2021

By: Hans Themistode

For roughly 11 years, Chad Johnson caught NFL passes, blocked oncoming rushers and pranced his way into the end zone before retiring in 2011. Now, he’ll get his chance to return to the spotlight. This time, however, in an entirely new sport.

The former NFL wide receiver will officially make his boxing debut on the undercard of Floyd Mayweather vs Logan Paul on June 6th, at the Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, Florida in reportedly a four or six round exhibition bout.

According to Johnson, Leonard Ellerbe, CEO of Mayweather Promotions, reached out to him with the idea. And although it came as a shock at first, the former NFL Pro Bowler simply couldn’t say no.

“So Leonard Ellerbe, Floyd manager, hit me up like hey I got an opportunity for you,” said Johnson during the I AM ATHLETE Podcast. “Floyd is fighting June 6th, at the Hard Rock, you can make a cool million and do a few rounds. It’s something I really couldn’t pass up. I could pass it up but why not? Everything in life I’m good at, besides golf. I called Ellerbe back and said let’s do this.”

Johnson, 43, has been known to train with Mayweather and former four-division champion Adrien Broner over the years but has never stepped inside the ring in a professional setting. At the moment, Johnson is still unaware with whom exactly he’ll be facing but reportedly, a slew of celebrities and fellow athletes are being considered.

If, however, for some reason, Johnson finds himself standing across the ring from an actual professional boxer, he claims that he is unafraid. The self-appointed “Sweet Feet Johnson” will simply take care of business regardless of who he’s lined up against.

“It don’t matter who I’m facing. When I played on Sundays, even though it’s a different sport, you knew you were going to get your money’s worth. June 6th, Sweet feet Johnson is going to go in there and do what I do best.”

With Johnson officially joining the event, he’ll join an undercard that is already filled with legitimate boxing matches. In the co-main event, former multiple division champion Badou Jack and WBA “Regular” light heavyweight titlist Jean Pascal will face off for the second time in their careers. Their first contest took place in December of 2019 with Pascal taking home a somewhat controversial split decision after the pair traded knockdowns. Also featured on the card, former unified super welterweight champion Jarrett Hurd will make his middleweight debut against fringe contender Luis Arias.

In the main event slot, of course, Mayweather will look to continue his winning ways in an exhibition match against YouTuber turned professional boxer, Logan Paul.

Posted on 03/18/2021

By: Hans Themistode

At the time, Canelo Alvarez believed he was as ready as can be.

Going into his 2013 showdown against Floyd Mayweather Jr., the prevailing thought surrounding their contest was that the Mexican product was good but he simply wasn’t prepared for what Mayweather brought to the table.

In the mind of Alvarez though, the timing was perfect. At the age of 23, Mayweather was considerably older at 36. Despite the age gap, Mayweather proved that regardless of youth being on the side of Alvarez, experience was firmly in his corner.

Fast forward seven years later and Mayweather has long since retired while Alvarez has gone unbeaten since then. Looking back now, the current unified super middleweight champion believes the opponents he took on after he fought Mayweather should have come before he stepped into the ring against him.

“I always think I needed to fight first with (Miguel) Cotto, (Erislandy) Lara and all of those guys and then Floyd,” said Alvarez on Hotboxin’ with Mike Tyson. “I needed more experience and more maturity.”

Alvarez would eventually face and defeat both Cotto and Lara, but not before Mayweather, which in part, Alvarez believes led to his majority decision loss. A dejected Alvarez sulked on his way back to his locker on the night as it was the first, and so far only, loss of his career. While he admits that he was disappointed in his performance, he has since turned that negative outcome into a positive.

The Mexican superstar has gone on to win world titles in four different weight classes and is currently attempting to become the first undisputed super middleweight champion of all-time.

Like any typical boxing match, Alvarez sits back as both his name and record are said out loud by the ring announcer before any of his bouts officially begin. While the number in the win column has continued to go up, the one-loss on his resume continues to stay the same.

Although he isn’t arguing against the judge’s decision on that night to hand Mayweather the victory, Alvarez doesn’t view his loss to the newly elected Hall of Famer as such.

More than anything, it was a teachable moment simply disguised as a defeat.

“I don’t think that fight like I lose. I take that fight like I learn from that fight.”