PROFESSIONAL promoter Mark Neilson pens his views on the biggest talking point in boxing this week.
My teenage daughter said to me on Friday: “Hey dad, are you watching the big fight this weekend?” Not used to this sort of interest in boxing from my daughter, I replied: “Yes, I am, I’m looking forward to Daniel Dubois’ comeback fight, it’ll be interesting to see how he responds after his last loss.”
“No dad, I meant Logan Paul, he’s fighting Floyd Mayweather - that Mayweather used to be a boxer you know.”
It’s a sign of the times I suppose that a YouTuber who’s only had two fights (a draw in an exhibition against fellow Brit YouTuber KSI and a sanctioned ‘official’ fight in the rematch where he lost on points), is getting all of the headlines.
The veritable novice, Logan Paul faced a 48-year-old Mayweather who retired with a perfect 50-0-0 record and proceeded to ‘break the internet in the process.
Broadcast on Showtime in the US for $49.99 (about £35) PPV, the network went down for a part of the fight due to a reported massive demand on their servers. Shown in the UK on Sky Sports Box Office for a mere £16.95, the price of an AJ fight only a year or two ago, there is no doubt that this sort of event sells.
The rules stipulated it was an eight round fight, with no judges, 12 oz. gloves, no headgear and no official winner read!
It turned out to be a rather dull affair, with social media full of memes of Logan Paul ‘windmilling’ and a lot of holding - the press conference had more action!
Mayweather has boasted he will earn in excess of $100 million (£70 million) and that received $30 million alone for the patches on his shorts with Paul set to receive $14 million.
Whilst they call it boxing, that is a bit of a stretch, boxing aficionados are split on these type of increasingly-frequent events.
I am also split, I view it as just entertainment, a bit like WWE, it’s not real so it doesn’t really matter.
On the other hand, it does seem a bit perverse, when you consider that there were 25 professional fights in the UK last weekend, and those 50 fighters had 1146 fights between them.
Logan Paul, in his third fight, will earn more than those 50 fighters combined by a significant amount.
I feel for those professional boxers, grafting away, hoping to break it into the big time or even just trying to get by and make a living. But I fear this is how boxing may move forward and there may well be more cross-over fights of this kind. Whatever your thoughts, this certainly won’t be the last of these type of ‘boxing’ events to grace our screens. Let’s hope that the pro’s can get a piece of this massive pie.
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