Floyd Mayweather vs. Logan Paul: Was It All For the Money?

Who would think that Floyd “Money” Mayweather would come out of retirement to go against a YouTuber? That is exactly what happened, but the fight itself was not what people were anticipating to watch.

Floyd Mayweather and Logan Paul at the weigh-in before their fight. (Amanda Westcott/ Showtime)

It had been contemplated leading up to the fight if Mayweather was doing it just for the money. There are several reasons people were asking that question. To start, Mayweather was coming out of retirement to fight a YouTuber who only had one previous “professional” fight under his belt (against another YouTuber) a fight in which he lost. So it makes you wonder why would such a great boxer like Mayweather, one of the greatest of all time, want to come out of retirement for an inexperienced fighter who has spent most of their life making videos for a living?

A factor that had fans confused about the event was just how much the rules were being adjusted for this particular match. The rules for the fight were structured so that there would be no winner announced, no judges, no knockouts allowed, a total of eight rounds with each round lasting three minutes and each boxer would use ten-ounce gloves while the fighters were also not allowed to wear headgear.

Not only this, but Paul’s coach had reported to ESPN that his goal for the fight was to simply finish all 8 rounds. Wouldn’t most world-renowned fighters only want to face someone that is genuinely trying to get a win, rather someone that has a goal of just “surviving” the match?

Those questions are for Floyd to answer. 

But one thing to really look at is the amount of money that both boxers reportedly received for doing the fight. It has been reported that Mayweather was guaranteed a payout of $10 million for the fight in addition to receiving 50 percent of the pay-per-view buys. 

On the other side of things, Paul was guaranteed $250,000 for the match and received 10 percent of the pay-per-view buys as well. 

For Mayweather, this wasn't enough money though as he wore shorts with several company logos including the likes of  Limitless, Smilz and Fashion Nova.

Floyd Mayweather wearing sponsored gear that earns him millions. (Chadan Khanna/Getty Images)

There is one factor as to why Mayweather may have accepted the fight, which would be to prove that he is still the superior fighter that he has always been. It is no surprise that Mayweather is much smaller compared to Paul, putting Mayweather at a disadvantage before the fight even began. To be specific, there was a six-inch and 34.5-pound difference between the two fighters. 

In boxing, this is viewed as a very large weight difference while Mayweather has boxed opponents that range anywhere from 126 to 154 pounds in the past. There is also an 18 year age difference between Paul and Mayweather, with the latter being 44 years old compared to Pauls 26 years of age. So it is possible that the much older and lighter Mayether wanted to face Paul as a way to show that he can face any boxer that comes his way, no matter the age or size.

When looking at the fight itself there was not much action on the night.n other words, it was pretty boring. It was mostly Paul hugging Mayweather to keep up with the stamina which is not surprising seeing how Paul used all of his power and strength within the first three rounds, while Mayweather conserved his power and strength, as he is known to do.

Although there was no winner decided, the final score was reported as Mayweather winning 78-74. However, the overall stats for each fighter told another story entirely. Mayweather had managed to land 43 out of 107 punches thrown, with 36 of those being power shots. Paul on the other hand landed only 28 out of 217 punches thrown, with 21 of those being power shots. It is clear that this fight was no sort of challenge for Mayweather whatsoever.

So really was the fight all for the money? Seeing how a ten-time title belt winner would fight in an exhibition match just to face off against a YouTuber, you could argue that the guaranteed $10 million, 50 percent of pay per-view-buys and money from sponsors is a pretty good reason for why  Mayweather agreed to partake in the fight in the first place.