Another chapter in the YouTuber-turned-boxer carnival has been locked in, with Logan Paul and former world champion Floyd Mayweather Jr confirming their fight is happening on June 6.
Key points:
- Mayweather and Paul had a fight locked in for February this year, but it was called off
- The fight has been rescheduled and will take place in Miami as a pay-per-view event
- Logan’s brother and fellow YouTuber Jake Paul recently won his third professional fight
Paul’s fellow YouTuber and brother Jake Paul recently had his third professional fight, beating former mixed martial arts champ Ben Askren by knockout in the first round.
Logan Paul has only had one professionally sanctioned bout, which he lost against fellow YouTuber KSI in 2019. It was a rematch of a drawn bout the previous year.
Mayweather, meanwhile, has a 50-0 win-loss record from a professional boxing career that started in 1996 and ostensibly ended in 2017 against UFC champion Conor McGregor.
AP: Koji Sasahara
)In December last year the pair said the fight was locked in for February 20, but that was called off early that month, Paul said, because coronavirus restrictions would not allow them to have a full crowd.
But both Paul and Mayweather have announced on social media that the bout is back on, scheduled for June 6 at the Hard Rock Stadium in Miami, which is home to the NFL’s Miami Dolphins.
The fight will be broadcast via pay-per-view on Fanmio.com, a website that sells one-on-one video chats with celebrities and fans.
Mayweather Promotions and Showtime Boxing are also involved in organising the event, which is being dubbed “an exhibition”, meaning the massive size difference between Mayweather and Paul will be less of an issue.
Reuters: Tom Jacobs
)Mayweather weighed in at just under 68 kilograms for his fight with McGregor four years ago, while Paul was just a tick over 90 kilograms before his cruiserweight fight with KSI in 2019. Paul is also 188 centimetres tall, compared to Mayweather’s 173 centimetres.
But the tagline from Fanmio highlights the yawning gap in their boxing resumes.
“Undefeated, 12-time, five division boxing superstar Floyd Mayweather at 50-0 will take on social media sensation Logan Paul in a special exhibition boxing match that is expected to make history,” it reads.
The Mayweather-Paul fight is the latest in a long line of money-spinning but farcical bouts in the US, with former champs Mike Tyson and Roy Jones Jr coming out of retirement for an awkward six-round draw in November last year.
Jake Paul was on the undercard of that fight, when he knocked out former NBA player Nate Robinson. And earlier this month he was back at it, drawing Askren out of two years of retirement for a boxing debut that again ended in a knockout for Jake Paul.
Meanwhile, in Australia, ex-NRL superstar Paul Gallen’s recent first-round knockout of retired champion Lucas Browne was roundly criticised after the former boxer was seen eating sausage rolls in the locker room, while Anthony Mundine’s final few fights were similarly pilloried as cash grabs for all involved.
