By: Hans Themistode
Rich, great boxer, icon, money-hungry, extravagant, boring, and flamboyant are some of the words, whether fair or not, that have been used to describe Floyd Mayweather. One word that has seldom, if ever, been used to describe the Hall of Famer, however, is compassionate.
Yet, according to DeJuan Blake, cousin and cornerman of Mayweather, compassionate is the perfect way to describe the retired undefeated fighter.
Recently, Mayweather became enticed with the idea of facing former YouTuber turned de-facto boxer, Logan Paul. After hammering out a deal, the two would face off in an eight-round exhibition contest on June 6th, earlier this year at the Hard Rock Casino in Miami Florida. In an effort to prove that size was of no importance, Mayweather, who was already facing a four-inch height and reach disadvantage, willingly allowed Paul to outweigh him by 35 pounds on the official day of the weigh-in. On the night of the fight, with no hydration clause, Paul seemingly outweighed Mayweather by over 50 pounds.
Despite everything pointing in Paul’s favor from a physical standpoint, many were expecting the former five-division world champion to stop his man. To the surprise of many, Mayweather vs. Paul went the full eight-round distance. While some have lauded Paul for his ability to hang in there with arguably the greatest fighter of his generation, Blake has revealed that Paul was only able to accomplish that feat due to Mayweather showing him mercy.
“It’s an exhibition like Floyd said,” explained Blake during an interview with The Sun. “He’s not a boxer, why would he want him to get hurt and not be able to go home and talk to his family? One punch could change the game, why would he want to hurt him like that?”
As a muscular Paul stood towering over a much smaller Mayweather, the undefeated five-division titlist appeared unafraid of what his opponent threw in his direction. For most of their exhibition showdown, a normally defensive Mayweather pushed the pedal to the metal and seemingly attempted to inflict serious harm. Nonetheless, no matter how many times Mayweather landed a concussive shot, Paul would lean in and use his large frame to grab and hold his much smaller opponent.
In the end, Mayweather believed that if he truly wanted to, he could have found the game-ending blow.
“I mean, I could’ve,” said Mayweather when asked if he could have stopped Paul shortly after their exhibition. “I could’ve pressed real, real hard and started throwing crazy combinations but I had fun tonight.”
In spite of the fun and games, Mayweather had plenty of heated moments between both Logan Paul and his brother Jake. The two would continually warn Mayweather that his undefeated streak would be coming to an end. In addition to that, Logan went as far as to say that he would successfully knock Mayweather out.
Regardless of the constant back and forth sparring on the microphone, Blake believes that Mayweather was tenderhearted due to the constant dangers any fighter faces when entering the ring.
“A lot of people said, you should knock him out for all the sh*t he’s talking. But at the end of the day, Floyd loves the sport that he’s been involved in, but he also hates what comes with the damage that comes after the sport is over.”
