Floyd Mayweather Jr. and YouTube star Logan Paul surprised fans in December by agreeing to a celebrity boxing match that will not count in their official records. Nearly two months later, news surfaced that the bout will take place at a later date. The boxing match has officially been postponed for multiple reasons.
According to TMZ Sports, a Mayweather spokesperson confirmed the postponement. The person listed “COVID and other things” as the primary reasons for the delay. The source did not provide any more information about how coronavirus impacted the fight but said that both men are actively trying to reschedule the event for a later date. Additionally, it is unclear if either Mayweather or Paul will try to line up any other boxing matches while they wait for a new date.
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The original bout was set for Feb. 20 and would be available for fans on the streaming platform Fanmio. The price would start at $24.99 and then would increase after certain thresholds, such as the first one million purchases. The price increased to $59.99 on Dec. 29 and was set to reach $69.99 on Feb. 11. However, the situation will now change due to the postponement.
When the news of the postponement surfaced, there were some claims that the fight would not take place. Some people said that there was a “lack of interest” in the bout between a retired boxer and a YouTuber. However, Paul provided more context during an appearance on The Night Shift Gaming Twitch channel.
“I’ve been a little upset with the narrative I’m seeing online, a little f—ing upset, so I’ll clear this up,” Paul said. “It’s just stupid. A guy who we had come to test to be a strength and conditioning coach leaked information about the fight. As soon as this got out, he said that the fight was being pushed [back], I said, ‘F— we’ve had a leak from inside our camp, no-one else was supposed to know that.’
“Then the narrative changed to, ‘Floyd Mayweather and Logan Paul fight postponed due to lack of interest,’” he continued. “Lack of interest? What the f—? There’s not been a fight that’s made this much noise the whole year.”
There were several people that sounded off about the fight after Mayweather and Paul confirmed the exhibition match. UFC President Dana White had strong words and said that the fight would be a “10-sided ridiculous a— whooping.” He also wished Paul “good luck” while saying that the fight is an example of the current state of boxing.
White may have been critical of the now-postponed fight, but World Boxing Council President Mauricio Sulaiman had a different outlook. He said that he supported the matchup and that both men have “worked hard” to get in fighting shape. “This is going to be something good for boxing,” he said during an appearance on SiriusXM’s The Ak and Barak Show. “This is going to bring millions of eyes to our sport.”
