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Hopkins Weighs In on Mayweather-Paul Fight

Tanner Lee ’23 Assistant Sports Editor
On February 20, YouTube sensation Logan Paul and boxing legend Floyd Mayweather will face off in an exhibition boxing match.
Paul, the 25-year-old Ohio native, will fight in only his second official match ever, while Mayweather, the 43-year-old from Michigan, currently holds one of the best boxing records ever at fifty wins and zero losses.

This matchup, featuring a YouTuber, will not be the first to do so. The first match between YouTubers featured KSI and Joe Weller in England in 2017. KSI, who has amassed over twenty million subscribers on his channel, proceeded to challenge either of the Paul brothers to a boxing match, seeing as he has a feud with the two of them. KSI and Logan Paul fought twice, once in August of 2018, and lastly in November of 2019, which was classified as a professional fight. This was Logan Paul’s only match and only loss. Logan Paul’s younger brother Jake then fought retired NBA star Nate Robinson in November 2020, and won convincingly. Now, Logan is set to fight Floyd Mayweather.

The matchup between the two is not as one-sided as it may seem. Paul, standing at 6’2 and weighing roughly two hundred pounds, is a staggering six inches taller, and fifty-three pounds heavier, than the world-champion boxer. Mayweather is also nearly twenty years older than Paul, and is coming back to boxing after announcing his retirement in 2017. Also, Paul comes from an extremely athletic family and has played many sports during his life. While he is not familiar with boxing, Logan and his brother Jake were great football players in high school and even better wrestlers in high school and college.

However, none of this means anything when the person across the ring is one of the world’s best. After conquering his first world title in 1998 by defeating Genaro Hernandez, Mayweather never stopped winning. He won four more world titles in 2002, 2005, 2006, and 2007, solidifying himself as one of the greatest athletes ever. In 2015, he agreed to fight Manny Pacquiao, an eight-division champion, and won, extending his perfect record to 45-0. After beating Conor McGregor in 2017, the champion achieved a perfect 50-0 record, and announced his retirement.

In fighting this exhibition match, both Mayweather and Paul have much to gain, but Mayweather also has something to lose if Paul defeats him. Due to Paul’s large YouTube fanbase, and Mayweather’s fame in the boxing world, the fight is expected to produce millions of dollars for both, regardless of who wins. Mayweather’s long-awaited fight with Manny Pacquiao in 2015 grossed about six hundred million dollars in total, making it the richest boxing match to date. The match between You- Tubers KSI and Logan Paul did not generate nearly as much money, but still grossed a generous eleven million dollars. On February 20, Mayweather is already guaranteed two million dollars, while Paul is guaranteed two hundred thousand of his own to fight the boxing legend.

However, the average fan only wants to know who will be crowned victorious that night. If Mayweather were to win, as he is expected to, it would not mean much to the boxing world. A boxing legend only three years into retirement should beat someone who, despite being younger, has only ever fought twice, and never won. Not many will be surprised if Mayweather wins.

However, if Logan Paul surprises fans and beats Mayweather, Paul will have bragging rights, and Mayweather’s career might become slightly tarnished for agreeing to take a fight against a younger, yet much less experienced fighter.

When asked who he thought would win the exhibition match, Ryan Schatz ‘23 replied, “I feel like [Logan has] overcome a lot of the difficulties he’s had to face and therefore I feel like he has a better mindset in order to win this fight.” Schatz is referencing Logan’s recklessness as a teenager, and believes his maturity could lead him to be victorious.

Juan Lopez ‘22 had a different opinion on the outcome of the fight. He said, “I one hundred percent think Mayweather is going to beat Logan Paul because Logan has almost no experience.” Lopez also suggested that, “In the one professional fight [Logan] had he lost to KSI. So if anything KSI should be fighting Mayweather.”

Maeve Stauff ‘21 also said she thinks “Mayweather is going to win because Logan doesn’t have much experience and Mayweather has been fighting forever and is undefeated.” Stauff continued, “I don’t think Mayweather will go as hard on Logan as he did Conor McGregor because he wants it to be entertaining.”

Luke O’Connell ‘23 also believed Mayweather would win the fight: “Mayweather simply has the brute force to defeat any man in the arena, and despite Logan’s determination to take down one of the best boxers of our generation, Mayweather’s experience will lead him to be the top dog.” Assata Dawson ‘23 also believed Mayweather would emerge victorious, saying, “I definitely think that Floyd Mayweather will win because he is undefeated and Logan Paul, while larger than Mayweather, has nowhere near the amount of skill that Mayweather has.”
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