By: Sean Crose
Floyd Mayweather can smile. It appears he may have added another one hundred million dollars to his bank account. “I’m the only person you know who can do a fake fight and get a hundred million,” he claims in a video posted on social media. “I can do some legalized sparring and get a hundred million.” The former pound for pound great was at a press conference Saturday night after his fighter Gervonta Davis, put on a career defining performance against Mario Barrios in a pay per view event. “Am I the best bank robber?” Mayweather then asked sidekick Leonard Ellerbe “Because I don’t know nobody in sports that’s my age and can still stick ’em up like that.”
Mayweather, all 44 years of him, stepped into the ring with social media star Logan Paul on June 6th. Although Paul was far taller and younger than the retired legend, Mayweather essentially used his superior skill through the eight round battle. He didn’t knock Paul out, nor did he make the man quit. Even with that being said, some feel that Mayweather carried Paul, literally keeping the man on his feet during the bout. No matter. The event was an enormous success, an exhibition battle that caught the general public’s imagination on a Sunday evening.
Just how big was the Mayweather-Logan bout? Big enough that Showtime reportedly couldn’t handle all the traffic it got from consumers. Many would-be viewers were left with faulty or no service. Showtime actually had to give moment back. The fact that the undefeated Mayweather was still able to presumably bring in over a hundred million dollars, refunds and all, says something about the kinds of novelty events that are bringing new viewers to the sport of boxing. It also says something about Mayweather, and his enduring popularity.
There’s no doubt that novelty bouts have taken boxing by storm. Last year’s Mike Tyson-Roy Jones exhibition bout brought in a ton of money and viewers. Logan’s younger brother Jake (also a social media star) has not only been hugely successful in the ring in the past year or so, he may well now be one of the most recognizable names in the sport. And now there’s the addition of Floyd Mayweather to the mix. Make no mistake about it, the name Mayweather is still highly lucrative, especially to those who are generally not interested in boxing. Mayweather’s use of the word “fake,” however, is telling.
