Back from Saudi Arabia, where he suffered his first career loss to Tommy Fury (a winner by split decision), YouTube boxer Jake Paul was in Miami Wednesday night, cheering on his hometown Cavs in their victory over the Heat. Also in attendance was boxing legend Floyd Mayweather, who Paul has history with, provoking the former world champ before fighting his brother in an exhibition match at Hard Rock Stadium in 2021. Paul tried to get in Mayweather’s head by grabbing his hat, a prank the 26-year-old would commemorate with a tattoo on his right thigh.
Mayweather, along with several members of his entourage, sought out Paul after the game, surrounding him in a tense scene outside Miami Dade-Arena. Not interested in a confrontation, Paul made a run for it, sprinting to safety before things could get physical.
Though Paul’s past controversies and arrogant demeanor (as displayed in this hostile interview with HBO’s Bomani Jones) have made him a less-than-sympathetic figure throughout his brief boxing career, Wednesday’s drama reflects poorly on Mayweather, bringing a small army to intimidate someone half his age who, by all accounts, was minding his own business.
The whole feud, with Mayweather seemingly still fuming over an incident that took place almost two years ago, felt contrived, leading many to wonder if Wednesday’s post-game circus was staged, playing up their rivalry to build anticipation for an inevitable fight. Lending further credence to that theory, Paul recapped what happened in a video posted to social media, gladly turning his encounter with Mayweather into content.
While the prospect of Paul and Mayweather getting together in the ring is no doubt intriguing and would probably make a killing on pay-per-view, the fight itself would likely disappoint, owing to their huge gap in experience and skill level along with Mayweather’s tactics, favoring a defensive approach that doesn’t lend itself to much action.
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