Here we have the fight "Mayweather vs. Paul" from last year (summer 2021, slightly over a year ago now) and if we do not count pre-fight action, namely the pre-fight clashes between not so popular contenders to get the crowd in the mood, then this went on for minimally under an hour in total. Mayweather is of course the man who is considered one of the greatest boxers of all time with his perfect record and he was somewhere between his early and mid-40s when he fought here. Logan Paul, almost 20 years younger, is a Youtube influencer (and on other platforms too of course) with millions and millions of followers, so if we count out the sports community, he is maybe even more famous than Mayweather at this point. And also was back when this fight took place. Like with the Klitschkos, it was a bit if a family affair for Paul because his brother was right there with him at the ring in his corner. I am definitely not a fan of Logan Paul and I think a lot of what he does is staged and scripted despite telling his audience that it is real, but I still find his brother even less likable somehow from all that I saw linked to this fight, even if the brother is probably the more experienced and maybe also better fighter. Don't really watch their content otherwise too much. This is not what this review should be about anyway, but the fight instead, so let's focus more on that again: As I stated in the title of my review already, I have some respect here for Paul that he survived eight rounds and that the fight was not just five rounds because with every round Paul had a harder time to not hit the ground and Mayweather was unleashing more and more on him through his advantages in fitness (despite the age difference) and experience. The man in charge of the writing here, if you can even say so, was Greg Bishop. He is not new to the world of boxing at all, also worked on some pre-fight content here, but you can say that his focus is usually at least as much on stuff like this one here as it is on "real" boxing. Also by far not the only time he worked with the Paul family, so he may be part of the gang to some extent at least. Admittedly, he has also worked on a Pacquiao documentary series. You have to give him that.
As for Logan Paul in this fight, you can say in his favor that at least he beat the odds, upset the bookies that were all so strongly in the champ's favor. Good for him. Of course, Paul did not officially win the fight, but as there was no decision afterwards (that Mayweather easily would have won), it was a bit of a draw and so it is even more difficult to take this night seriously as a legitimate boxing event. That they were basically trying to convince us then that this is a draw because nobody got knocked out. That's not how it goes. Speaking of the official aspect, it can also be said that the referee was not Michael Buffer, the one everybody knows with his approach and voice in terms of intonation. It surprised me a bit. I would have thought that with all the money the Pauls have at their disposal (and a boss like Mayweather on board too), they could have gotten him to sign and turn this into an even bigger event. Oh well, maybe there were other reasons for him not to come. I am sure they tried. As for the crowd, you could find a few basketball players and rappers there and one of them was even right next to Mayweather when he entered the hall. So surely a bit of a Black crowd, but again no surprise with 50% of the protagonists being African-American too. Honestly, I struggle a bit with the 50 here, struggle with giving Paul also 50% of this, but oh well, according to mathematics it is true. Mayweather's family seemed pretty cool and likable from what I saw. That was nice to witness. You cannot deny how much of a legend the man is really and how he defined his sport for so many years. So it is even cooler that he is also quite likable and not arrogant. In terms of his looks, he reminds me a bit of rapper 50 Cent. Had that one been there (I think he wasn't), it would have been even more amazing. I mean they do not look like identical twins, but as brothers they could pass. I said at the start of my review that this lasted for almost an hour and that is true, but you must add that one third of that was just pre-fight shenanigans like the athletes entering, announcements etc. So it is more like half an hour fight action and in the end also some post-fight action too.
During the fight itself, Paul even managed to hit Mayweather here and there in the early stages. Some mind games too, but that was not a huge surprise. Boxing is always about getting into your opponent's head and maybe force him to make a mistake this way too, even (or especially) on the level when a retired boxer fights a social media phenomenon. Or look at Fury who has mastered this aspect to perfection basically, already during the weighing ceremony. Can you call it a ceremony? I am not sure, but you know what I mean anyway. I am getting a bit too general again, so let's say that the funniest thing about this fight was the constant display of the two protagonists' records. I think it was 50-0 against 0-1. Is Paul getting an 0-1-1 after this fight or will they leave it at 0-1? I am not sure, but I hope the latter. This depiction and contrast how their records really could not be any more different did have comedy value to it though. On a side note, as this took place during the COVID-19 pandemic of course, so I was very surprised about how literally nobody in the audience was wearing a mask and they sure did not only let vaccinated people in. It was probably not obligatory at this point in Miami, otherwise police definitely would have stopped the event with the broadcasting it got right in front of everybody's eyes. Health bodies surely would have recognized it live on air. To sum it all up, I would say that I did not like Logan Paul before the fight and also do not like him afterwards either and I will not change anything and not watch his content in the future either. Maybe on me it had the exact opposite effect than intended. In fact, Mayweather grew on me instead of Paul, but I guess for many others it helped a bit to find Paul more likable and gain some respect for him, especially in the boxing community where people may be laughing at him a bit here and there and maybe that changed a bit for the better because he, as I stated early on, did not get knocked out here. That's all. In the end, not a complete failure this thingey we got here, but also definitely not enough for a positive recommendation. I suggest you skip the watch.
As for Logan Paul in this fight, you can say in his favor that at least he beat the odds, upset the bookies that were all so strongly in the champ's favor. Good for him. Of course, Paul did not officially win the fight, but as there was no decision afterwards (that Mayweather easily would have won), it was a bit of a draw and so it is even more difficult to take this night seriously as a legitimate boxing event. That they were basically trying to convince us then that this is a draw because nobody got knocked out. That's not how it goes. Speaking of the official aspect, it can also be said that the referee was not Michael Buffer, the one everybody knows with his approach and voice in terms of intonation. It surprised me a bit. I would have thought that with all the money the Pauls have at their disposal (and a boss like Mayweather on board too), they could have gotten him to sign and turn this into an even bigger event. Oh well, maybe there were other reasons for him not to come. I am sure they tried. As for the crowd, you could find a few basketball players and rappers there and one of them was even right next to Mayweather when he entered the hall. So surely a bit of a Black crowd, but again no surprise with 50% of the protagonists being African-American too. Honestly, I struggle a bit with the 50 here, struggle with giving Paul also 50% of this, but oh well, according to mathematics it is true. Mayweather's family seemed pretty cool and likable from what I saw. That was nice to witness. You cannot deny how much of a legend the man is really and how he defined his sport for so many years. So it is even cooler that he is also quite likable and not arrogant. In terms of his looks, he reminds me a bit of rapper 50 Cent. Had that one been there (I think he wasn't), it would have been even more amazing. I mean they do not look like identical twins, but as brothers they could pass. I said at the start of my review that this lasted for almost an hour and that is true, but you must add that one third of that was just pre-fight shenanigans like the athletes entering, announcements etc. So it is more like half an hour fight action and in the end also some post-fight action too.
During the fight itself, Paul even managed to hit Mayweather here and there in the early stages. Some mind games too, but that was not a huge surprise. Boxing is always about getting into your opponent's head and maybe force him to make a mistake this way too, even (or especially) on the level when a retired boxer fights a social media phenomenon. Or look at Fury who has mastered this aspect to perfection basically, already during the weighing ceremony. Can you call it a ceremony? I am not sure, but you know what I mean anyway. I am getting a bit too general again, so let's say that the funniest thing about this fight was the constant display of the two protagonists' records. I think it was 50-0 against 0-1. Is Paul getting an 0-1-1 after this fight or will they leave it at 0-1? I am not sure, but I hope the latter. This depiction and contrast how their records really could not be any more different did have comedy value to it though. On a side note, as this took place during the COVID-19 pandemic of course, so I was very surprised about how literally nobody in the audience was wearing a mask and they sure did not only let vaccinated people in. It was probably not obligatory at this point in Miami, otherwise police definitely would have stopped the event with the broadcasting it got right in front of everybody's eyes. Health bodies surely would have recognized it live on air. To sum it all up, I would say that I did not like Logan Paul before the fight and also do not like him afterwards either and I will not change anything and not watch his content in the future either. Maybe on me it had the exact opposite effect than intended. In fact, Mayweather grew on me instead of Paul, but I guess for many others it helped a bit to find Paul more likable and gain some respect for him, especially in the boxing community where people may be laughing at him a bit here and there and maybe that changed a bit for the better because he, as I stated early on, did not get knocked out here. That's all. In the end, not a complete failure this thingey we got here, but also definitely not enough for a positive recommendation. I suggest you skip the watch.