Logan Paul is going to box Floyd Mayweather.
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Thought 2020 was a crazy year? Just wait until 2021. Boxer Floyd Mayweather Jr. and internet personality and YouTuber Logan Paul announced on Sunday that the two men will fight in an exhibition match set for Feb. 20, 2021. The event will air live on pay-per-view.
Mayweather Jr. is 43 and has a 50-0 record in the sport. He’s won 15 major boxing world titles, plus a bronze medal in the 1996 Olympics and three U.S. Golden Gloves championships. Paul, who’s 25, has … a lot less boxing experience, though he’s fought two amateur matches against British internet personality KSI, ending up with one draw and one loss by split decision.
Fan reaction to the lopsided match-up went about how you would expect, with some calling it a “joke” and others speculating about the money involved.
“Proper boxers work hard all their careers and this wanker gets a pay day and a fake fight,” said one Twitter user. “Turning boxing into an even bigger joke.”
Absolute fucking disgrace. Proper boxers work hard all their careers and this wanker gets a pay day and a fake fight. Turning boxing into am even bigger joke.
— Steven Bowen-Wilkie (@BowenWilkie) December 6, 2020
The Mayweather-Paul PPV match is priced currently at $24.99. (£18 GBP, AU$33), but the price will go up as the date gets closer.
When the news broke on Sunday, musician Snoop Dogg reportedly said he’d like to offer match commentary. Snoop Dogg was a social-media hit doing just that when Logan Paul’s brother, Jake Paul, fought Nate Robinson in November.
Logan Paul has made numerous odd headlines over his short public life. In 2019, Paul bought a California ranch that once belonged to LSD advocate and 1960s icon Timothy Leary. And in 2018, he posted footage of the body of a person who apparently died by suicide in Japan, later apologizing for doing so.
