The exhibition bout between Floyd Mayweather and Logan Paul went the distance last night in Miami.
With the pre-bout rules stating that no winner would be declared the YouTube star will likely be carrying his head high today after going the full eight-rounds with the former five-weight world champion.
Paul who weighed in at 189.5 pounds, giving him a whopping 34-pound advantage over Mayweather’s 155lbs had some believing that the internet personality could cause a huge shock in the exhibition. Despite the significant edge in weight Paul could do nothing that Mayweather hadn’t seen before in his 50-fight unbeaten career.
The pay-per-view main event was marred by lots of holding and grabbing which for the fans wasn’t what they had hoped for. As the bell rang to end the spectacle fans could be heard booing at the dampened Hard Rock Stadium in Miami.
The 26-year-old Paul had whipped himself up into excellent fighting condition and came out aggressive while the self-proclaimed G.O.A.T did little.
Paul began taking flush shots particularly from Mayweather’s left hook as the fight wore on with the 44-year-old turning the screw on the one-fight novice.
By the fifth round Paul seemed to be in trouble following a body shot as Mayweather continued to show the gargantuan levels in ability and experience.
Paul did enough to hold on to earn himself a credible result and likely give added energy to YouTubers and their attempts to become successful prize-fighters.
“Even without much experience, he knew to use his weight to tie me up tonight,” said Mayweather.
“I had fun tonight. I thank all the fans who came out, you’re all unbelievable.”
“I don’t want anyone to tell me anything is impossible ever again,” said Paul. “The fact that I got in here with one of the greatest boxers of all time, it proves the odds can be beat. Anyone can beat the odds and do great things in life. This is one of the greatest nights of my life, I’m happy.”
Light-heavyweight Badou Jack put the disappointment of his cancelled rematch against Jean Pascal behind him by stopping replacement opponent Dervin Corlina in the fourth-round. Pascal had failed a pre-fight drug test which stopped any hopes Jack had of gaining revenge from their entertaining world title in 2019.
“The game plan was just to outbox him,” said Jack. “Everything else will come. Definitely, hit the body. He was a little soft in the body, but I give him respect. He came out on short notice. He was supposed to fight next week but this is a different level.”
“He was trying to hold a lot and survive,” added Jack. “I fight better when I fight better opponents. I was a little sloppy. The world class fights are when I perform the best.”
Luis Arias scored an upset on the card beating former unified super welterweight champion Jarrett Hurd by split decision. The power-punching affair was an absorbing one which reminded fight fans that they were at a boxing event.
“I’m not sure what went wrong tonight,” said Hurd who got the nod on John Rupert’s card of 95-94.
“I believe I won the fight. I had a knockdown (in round 9). I could make a hundred excuses, but it wasn’t a great performance.”
“The game plan was to jump on him, get the early lead and keep it,” said Arias who gained verdicts of 96-93 and 97-93 from the cards of Toby Tamarkin and Mark Streisand respectively.
“I felt like in the middle rounds I was winning the fight, but you never know because I wasn’t the A-side in this fight. I buzzed him a lot, especially on the inside.”
“I came in here and challenged the number one guy at 154 pounds and we fought somewhere half-way and I was able to edge a decision,” said Arias.
“Props to Jarrett Hurd. You fought a great fight. Honestly, you could have had me out of there. I was definitely buzzed. If you would have found a way, I definitely would have gone down.”
Main image: Amanda Westcott/Showtime