Logan Paul, yellow shorts, and Floyd Mayweather face off at Saturday's weigh in.
POSTFIGHT: Well, Logan Paul survives. And in my eyes, he's the big winner tonight. He can say he fought the best fighter of the last 50 years and didn't get knocked down. Hell, he can claim he won since there was no official scoring. I don't think Mayweather's reputation is tarnished or anything, but it didn't reflect particularly well on him either.
“I had fun,” Mayweather said. “You have to realize I’m not 21 anymore. It’s good to move around these young guys and have some fun. Great young fighter, strong, tough. He’s better than I thought he was.”
Here’s what Paul said: “I don’t want anyone to ever tell me anything is impossible ever again. Floyd Mayweather, it was an honor ... It’s one of the greatest moments of my life.”
But Paul said he’s also going to wonder whether Mayweather just let him survive the fight. He also said maybe he could get a little better and try to fight Mayweather again.
Eighth round: Will Mayweather try for the KO? And if he doesn’t get it, will his reputation be tarnished at all? Some of the fans are beginning to boo. Mayweather lands a left, and then they clinch and both try to land rabbit punches. Leonard Ellerbe, Mayweather’s longtime advisor, is sitting in the second row. He does not look completely pleased. Well, Mayweather is not going for the KO. He’s just movnig around the ring. Paul is the one being aggressive. Paul is posing at the end of the fight and then tries to throw a jab at Mayweather. I score it for Mayweather.
Overall: Mayweather 78-74
Seventh round: Paul’s plan now, it seems, is to throw some jabs and then tie up Mayweather. And as soon as I write that, Paul tries landing some power shots. But it’s not like Mayweather is being ultra-aggressive either. Midway through, Mayweather traps Paul in the corner and puts his arm across Paul’s face. Paul land a jab but misses a right hand. Mayweather did next to nothing in this round. I score it for Paul.
Overall: Mayweather 68-65
Sixth round: Between rounds, Jake Paul informed the camera that he thinks his brother is winning the fight. Okie dokie. Paul is still pumping out that jab. Mayweather slashes Paul to the body. Midway through, Mayweather is barking at Paul, who then lands a small uppercut. Mayweather is targeting the body now. That’s most likely his best chance to score the KO. Mayweather tries the pull counter, but he whiffs. I score it for Mayweather.
Overall: Mayweather 59-55
Fifth round: Halfway through, Paul is performing better than I expected. He’s gotten some positive stuff done, and he’s taking Mayweather’s shots just fine. Big left hook by Mayweather and Paul backs into the ropes. But Paul is still throwing punches too. Mayweather might have landed a body shot, because Paul bends over in the middle of the round. Either that, or he’s exhausted. A counter right uppercut from Mayweather with about a minute left. Another big right from Mayweather. I score it for Mayweather.
Overall: Mayweather 49-46
Fourth round: Mayweather come out being very aggressive. Paul, meanwhile, is leaning on Mayweather, probably trying to tire him out. Paul keeps trying to land that uppercut, and then he lands a right hand that made solid contact on Mayweather. Big counter right by Mayweather and then a smoking left hand. Paul is taking it all well. Big lead right for Mayweather. Then, Paul makes Mayweather miss. I score it for Mayweather.
Overall: Mayweather 39-37
Third round: Paul tries an uppercut that might have done damage if it had landed. But it didn’t. So yeah, at this point, I think it’s clear that Mayweather is carrying Paul. Paul lands a right hand, sort of. Mayweather, out of the clinch, lands a punch to Paul’s chest. Paul does land a tiny uppercut. Halfway through, Mayweather smiles at Paul and lands a right hand. Mayweather tries a left hook and misses. But he lands two short body punches that probably didn’t feel great for Paul. Mayweather is now coming forward in the final minute, and Paul is looking a little tired. I score it for Mayweather.
Overall: Mayweather 29-28
Second round: Mayweather is basically biting on every Paul feint. But when Paul actually does throw, Mayweather is getting out of the way of everything. Mayweather with a jab to the body. Paul tries a four-punch combo. Misses. Out of the clinch, Paul touches Mayweather with a right hook. Not much is happening here, but Mayweather’s defense wins him the round I guess. I score the round for Mayweather.
Overall: 19-19
First round: The bell sounds, and let’s get weird. Paul looks huge in there. Paul feints and he gets Mayweather to move. Hey, he can always say that Mayweather bit on one of his fake-outs. Paul throws a couple of jabs that miss. Paul touches him to the body. A minute in and Mayweather throws his first punch (he missed). Paul tries a right hand, but Mayweather ducks underneath it. Mayweather tries his own right but it falls short. Mayweather connects with a jab. Paul focusing on Mayweather’s body and then tries a left hook, but misses. Paul is trying to rough up Mayweather in the corner and he’s throwing like 20 straight punches. Mayweather covers up, and I don’t think anything actually landed. But hell, I score the round for Paul.
Overall: Paul 10-9
Floyd Mayweather (actual) ringwalk: Making sure he’s following all COVID protocols, Mayweather walks to the ring while wearing a mask. Well, you can’t see anything but his eyes, but he’s glancing all around. Not sure what that means. Probably nothing. Oh, and he’s wearing an OnlyFans hat.
Floyd Mayweather ringwalk: Before Mayweather comes out, Migos, for some reason, gets their own ringwalk. This is one way to make your opponent wait, I suppose. Have a hip-hop group make their own long walk to the ring.
Logan Paul ringwalk: He enters the arena with his right hand up in the air. He looks confident as he strolls to the ring. Or it could be that he knows, “Hey, no matter what happens, I’m going to be soooo much richer.” Now, he’s clapping his gloves in time to the music. He greets his brother, Jake, and he enters the ring.
UNDERCARD:
Badou Jack (24-3-3, 14 KOs) TKO 4 over Dervin Colina (15-1): This was supposed to be Jack vs. Jean Pascal. But after Pascal failed a drug test, Colina was given his big chance. Colina is an unknown, and he’s coming off a win vs. a fighter who was 9-17-4.
And mostly, Colina looked how you expected him to look. Not very good. Jack looked solid throughout, and in the fourth round, he floored Colina three times. By the end, Colina took a knee, Jack hit him again, Colina collapsed, and the referee just kind of gave up and waved it off.
Luis Arias (19-2-1, 9 KOs) SD win over Jarrett Hurd (24-2): We haven’t heard from Hurd in about 17 months, and in his first (and maybe last) fight at middleweight, Arias scored a huge upset with a split decision victory against him. The judges had it 97-93 for Arias, 96-93 for Arias and 95-94 for Hurd. I had it 97-94 for Arias.
Previously, Arias was previously best known for losing by shutout to Daniel Jacobs in 2017, and he was coming off a loss to Luke Keeler. But Arias had a fantastic overhand right and body attack, landing 40% of his power punches, and Hurd started slow and showed little interest in defense.
Hurd, who was a 10/1 betting favorite, had a difficult time getting going early in the fight, and he never could catch up to Arias. Hurd was credited with a knockdown in the ninth round, but replays showed it was likely caused by a slip on a wet canvas. Overall, it was a fantastic fight and a great victory for Arias.
Said Arias afterward: “I never quit on myself. People close to me were telling me to get a job and quit boxing. I just beat a former champion. Don’t ever give up on yourself.”
Said Hurd: “I believe I won the fight. ... The plan was to come in and box, but the ring was slippery. I had no choice but to go toe to toe.”
Chad Johnson vs. Brian Maxwell (exhibition): You probably know Johnson, the former NFL star receiver formerly known as Chad Ochocinco. You probably don’t know Maxwell, who has competed in MMA and Bareknuckle Boxing (but not to very much success). But nobody will be focused on Maxwell. Everybody wants to see just what Johnson can do in the ring.
In the first round, Maxwell hits him with a right. Ocho took it fine. Then, he rocks Maxwell with a right. Now, Maxwell is running after him. This is already ridiculous. They’re actually fighting and not looking bad. I actually think Ocho wins the first round.
Johnson is actually doing some things in there in the second round, throwing jabs, showing a nice feint here and there, frustrating Maxwell.
In the third, Johnson is landing some shots, including a nice lead left every once in a while. He’s got decent defense and keeps making Maxwell miss.
In the fourth, Maxwell floors Johnson with a nice right hook. But Johnson gets up and continues on. Johnson isn’t on the steadiest of legs, but Maxwell isn’t going to finish him off.
There’s no official scoring for this fight, but on my card, I have Johnson winning 38-37.
Preview: Floyd Mayweather thinks Logan Paul doesn’t have a chance in the world to beat him on Sunday night. Maybe Paul doesn’t think so either, but he’s been talking a good game in the buildup of the Showtime PPV event, and some of the odds and predictions have reflected that.
Paul will probably weigh 30-40 pounds heavier than Mayweather, so perhaps if he lands a lucky punch, it’ll have enough force behind it to bother Mayweather. Conversely, maybe Mayweather’s punching power won’t have much of an effect on an opponent who’s so much bigger than him. That’s about really all Paul can hope for tonight.
“I’m going to fight my heart out,” Paul said. “That’s the beautiful thing about this sport. In almost any other business, experience is going to trump everything else. But this is a fight, and anything can happen.”
While that’s true, Mayweather (50-0, 27 KOs) is one of the best boxers of the past half-century. Even at the age of 44, even though his defensive wizardry and reflexes aren’t what they were in his prime, even though he probably didn’t train all that hard for this bout, Mayweather shouldn’t have any problem dominating Paul (0-1).
That’s just the reality. But the tantalizing possibility is why hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of people will plunk down their money tonight and watch what happens.
“Why not fight Logan Paul?” Mayweather said. “He’s huge on YouTube. He has a huge following. Before I even knew about YouTube, I was huge in boxing. And when you bring his world with my world, man it’s going to be crazy.
“I’m glad he’s got confidence. I’m glad he believes in himself. Last time I checked, all 50 fighters that I faced, they all said the same thing.”
While the bout is not sanctioned and there will be no official scoring, there’s a chance somebody can get knocked out anyway. And that’s probably what people will want to see.
The PPV begins at 8 p.m. ET, and I’ll be here all night, giving my round-by-round thoughts, explanations and unofficial scoring.
Floyd Mayweather vs. Logan Paul odds
Since the bout isn’t sanctioned or being scored by judges, there aren’t many sports books that are offering money lines. But there are prop bets, via SportsBetting.ag. A few of my favorites include: whether the fight will go the distance (-310 for no, +205 for yes), who will be the first to bleed (Paul is -600, Mayweather is +350); whether Logan Paul will be knocked down (-350 for yes, +225 for no), or whether younger brother Jake Paul will enter the ring during a round (+1000).
As for the undercard action, here’s what BetOnline.ag is offering:
- Badou Jack (-2500) vs. Dervin Colina (+1000)
- Jarrett Hurd (-1000) vs. Luis Arias (+550)
Floyd Mayweather vs. Logan Paul purses
According to Mayweather, he could end up making $50-100 million to fight Paul. According to the Sun, Paul has confirmed that he could earn as much as $20 million for Sunday’s event.
Floyd Mayweather vs. Logan Paul prediction
The reason Conor McGregor had success early in his fight with Mayweather in 2017 was, basically, because Mayweather let him. If Mayweather wanted to end the bout in the first few rounds, he could have done that. Instead, Mayweather carried him into the 10th round before knocking out the UFC star.
I suspect we’ll see some of the same in the first round or two tonight. Paul might have the tiniest bit of success, but by the third or fourth round, Mayweather will stop toying with his opponent and put an end to it. There will be no judges to score the contest, but there will be no need. That’s because Mayweather will make Paul quit.
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