Photo: Kathy Hutchins / Shutterstock
From money to age, there's a lot of speculation
By Kevin Lankes — Written on Jun 11, 2021
On Sunday, June 6, YouTuber Logan Paul stepped into the ring for an exhibition bout against Floyd Mayweather.
The two were set to fight for eight rounds, with no judges present to declare victory by decision if both boxers went the distance. The only way for either Paul or Mayweather to “win” was by knockout.
The fight went all the way to the final bell without a knockout.
Both men declared victory in their own way, and a lot of fans were disappointed — and not just by the technical difficulties that plagued Showtime's servers.
In fact, according to some Showtime users, the premium network and streaming service is issuing refunds for the fight after the website and app crashed and viewers were met with error messages after paying $49.99 to watch the fight.
In the end, the app crashing was the only knockout of the night.
Given Mayweather's legendary status in the boxing world, even though amateur Paul had a serious height and weight advantage, there’s naturally a ton of speculation swirling now about what happened — and whether or not the fight was staged.
How did Logan Paul last all eight rounds against Floyd Mayweather without getting knocked out?
While Mayweather has simply stated, ""He was better than I thought he was," some believe there may be more to the explanation (or even more than one explanation).
Was the Mayweather vs. Paul fight staged?
There are some legitimate concerns with the way things ended. Some questions that remain are enough to make skeptical fans wonder if the entire event wasn’t negotiated and settled up front.
The fact that one of the greatest boxers of all time wasn’t able to knock out a YouTuber with a 0-1 record is causing everyone to wonder about just how real the bout was.
Previously, Mayweather had taken on MMA champion Conor McGregor. While the fight lasted 10 out of the scheduled 12 rounds, it likely could have been over much sooner had Mayweather really been trying.
The boxer has a keen entertainer’s eye, and knows what’s going to both delight fans and make the bout last to capitalize on ad revenue.
There are other more specific theories based on fan reactions and analyst concerns about what took place during the fight.
We've compiled them here in the list below so you can be the judge.
1. The fight was purely meant to be “entertainment.”
Mayweather previously fought McGregor in the spirit of “entertainment.” He owns a promotional company that puts on live events. He’s a savvy businessperson with the ability to gauge what people want, and what they’ll pay for.
Many online are calling the bout a “sparring match.” With eight rounds of boxing, both fighters landed a total of just 71 punches, which is well below the average.
“I had fun,” Mayweather said in his post-fight interview.
Of course he did; he went toe-to-toe with an amateur and just had to let his opponent stay on his feet for eight rounds, all while making a ton of cash.
Many are comparing the fight to the kind of fake wrestling for entertainment model the WWE puts on — and even that organization itself got a jab in.
Another key clue that this is a possible answer occurred when Mayweather mentioned that while he did officially retire from competing in the sport at the highest levels, he’s “not retired from entertainment.”
2. Mayweather and Paul were just in it for the money.
This might be the most obvious answer, which also makes it the most likely.
Mayweather has repeatedly spoken up about the prospect that this fight would be a “legalized bank robbery.”
"I can fight a fighter right now and I can guarantee myself $35 million," Mayweather said in an appearance on Disruptive Entrepreneur Podcast. "Or me and Logan Paul, or a YouTuber, we can go out and entertain and have fun and make nine figures. $100 million or more."
No exact figures have been released, and since this was an exhibition bout and not sanctioned, it’s likely they never will be. The only reported amounts are rumors, and though several websites are sharing them, no sources have been cited, so take these with a grain of salt.
It’s been said that Mayweather secured a base salary of $10 million plus half of all pay-per-view revenue, while Paul took a base salary of $250,000 and 10% of pay-per-view revenue.
In terms of pay-per-view buys, to watch the fight on Showtime would cost a viewer $49.99. Last time Mayweather had one of these exhibitions against Conor McGregor, 4.3 million people bought in, which brought the pot to over $600 million.
Not to mention, the ad revenue from an eight-round fight that was allowed to go the distance, airing more commercials and movie trailers than it would have had there been an early knockout, in addition to sponsorship deals that were clearly in play, judging from the promos from companies such as OnlyFans and Cash App.
There was a huge amount of money circulating on Sunday night.
3. Mayweather was carrying Paul to make him look like a real boxer.
“It’s the best moment of my life,” Paul said in the post-fight coverage.
As a person who started out posting sketches on Vine and found his way to YouTube stardom, stepping into the ring and striking a multi-million dollar deal with one of the world’s greatest athletes is probably up there in the rankings for him. It would be for anyone.
Now that Paul went the distance with Mayweather, he can put that on his resume. It’s a huge accomplishment on paper, and if Mayweather hadn’t literally carried him through a big portion of the bout, it would be a huge accomplishment in reality, too.
The thing is — Paul is now set up to fight whoever he wants. Not only has he proved that he can theoretically stand up in a fight with anyone, legitimately or not, he’s also shown that he can put on quite a lucrative party.
After Mayweather, there likely isn’t a soul in the field of professional fighting, or outside it, who would be willing to turn down a purse this big.
4. Mayweather legitimately lost a step and struggled against a bigger and younger opponent.
It’s also possible that all of these crazy thoughts about why Mayweather didn’t introduce Paul’s face to the canvas are just conspiracy theories, and the cynics are just too loud.
Maybe a 44-year-old retired boxer really is too far out of his prime to hang in there with someone almost 35 pounds bigger and almost twenty years his junior.
Most boxers retire at an average age of 37, and according to one analysis, the only two on the list to retire undefeated include Floyd Mayweather (the other was Andre Ward).
Athletes generally lose a step after passing their prime and losing muscle mass and flexibility, and boxers are notorious for thinking they always have “one more in them.”
For someone who knocked out kickboxer Tenshin Nasukawa before the first round was over, Mayweather was likely thinking he had some more left in the tank, too. It’s possible that between then and now he’s just had a precipitous drop in ability due to age.
5. The fight was meant to showcase Mayweather’s production company.
Mayweather has a number of fighters tied to his production company, Mayweather Promotions.
The company is responsible for putting on live events in entertainment spaces, and it includes his own agency with a stable of boxers he calls the Money Team.
While Mayweather Promotions has existed since 2007, the aging boxer has only recently begun to step out of the ring himself and focus on lucrative events through his company that would continue to bring in huge paydays into the foreseeable future.
One of the biggest so far was his fight with Logan Paul.
It’s very possible that Mayweather at least negotiated for the right to use his own company to promote and produce the fight, thus guaranteeing even more money for himself than if he were solely a participant.
Mayweather is now set to train UFC star Tyron Woodley for his upcoming fight against none other than Jake Paul, Logan's brother, which many see as additional evidence backing this theory.
More likely than one of these theories being correct is the possibility that several of them are true.
It’s very possible that there was a pre-fight agreement in place between Paul and Mayweather that likely included considerations for things like ad revenue and entertainment value.
These are two major promoters. They knew what they were doing going in.
It’s also possible that the two of them were actively engaged in determining how to collect the maximum amount of dollars per black eye. From the unofficial tallies, it’s looking like that’s what happened.
The fact that Paul clinched for a large portion of the fight and leaned on Mayweather so that the 44-year-old would have to shoulder his weight shows that either Paul was counting on tiring Floyd out, or that Paul was legitimately hurting and attempting to get at least some relief so that he could go the distance.
There will be a ton of speculation surrounding this fight for years to come, with no real answers forthcoming.
All that can be said is that it was a giant entertainment spectacle that made two men a ton of money and could change the future of boxing.
Kevin Lankes, MFA, is an editor and author. His fiction and nonfiction have appeared in Here Comes Everyone, Pigeon Pages, Owl Hollow Press, The Huffington Post, The Riverdale Press, and more. He began training in boxing and MMA at the age of 7.