Furious boxing fans have accused Floyd Mayweather of throwing his fight with Logan Paul after footage of the legendary boxer appearing to hold up his opponent – rather than letting him slump to the canvas – emerged.
Mayweather dominated the contest at the Hard Rock Stadium in Miami but was surprisingly unable to stop Paul, with the rookie surviving the full eight rounds of their exhibition bout.
But fight fans have now hit out at Mayweather, claiming the undefeated 44-year-old deliberately stopped Paul from collapsing in order to extend the fight – despite landing a flurry of punches which looked to have ended the YouTuber’s challenge.
Boxing fans have claimed that Logan Paul’s bout with Floyd Mayweather may have been fixed
Footage has now emerged of Paul being caught with a heavy blow and slumping on to his rival
Rookie Paul was able to last the distance against legend Mayweather during their showdown
The clip during the fight shows an exhausted Paul stepping back towards the ropes, before the social media sensation looked to thrust out a heavy right hand.
Mayweather was able to evade the hook with ease and responded with a blow of his own, crashing into Paul’s head. The 26-year-old then slumped forward towards ‘Money’, who promptly unleashed an uppercut.
The odds were firmly stacked against Paul coming into the clash, and the evening looked to be over for him after he visibly sagged forward on to Mayweather.
For a second, it looked as though his rival was the only force stopping him from dropping down.
As Paul dropped forward, Mayweather then caught his opponent with an uppercut on Sunday
Paul had looked to be out the fight after the blow made contact but he was able to carry on
After riding out waves of pressure from Mayweather, Paul joked the rival had let him ‘survive’
And after the video surfaced on social media in the hours following the bout, a number of spectators were left questioning whether Paul was indeed knocked out.
Paul himself joked that Mayweather may have let him ‘survive’.
After the bout, he said: ‘This is still one of the greatest moments of my life… damn, I’m happy. You never know with this guy, I’m going to go home thinking, “Yo, did Floyd let me survive?”.’
But some people have since suggested the fight may have been fixed.
One person wrote on Twitter: ‘The whole thing is rigged like WWE. It isn’t sport, it’s the equivalent of a soap opera in America. Embarrassing.’
A number of spectators took to social media to share their withering views on the spectacle
Another said: ‘It was nothing but a joke and making a mockery of boxing.’
A third referenced Mayweather’s star-studded bout with MMA big name Conor McGregor from 2017, and said: ‘Same as the McGregor fight. They go a certain distance so none of them are disgraced. It’s obvious.’
‘You could tell he was going out cold by his head movement. It looked like he passed out,’ a fourth believes.
The conspiracy theories continued with another fan joking Mayweather kept Paul up to guarantee a hefty windfall for both men after lasting the distance.
A sixth spectator held a similarly withering opinion, posting: ‘No Logan, no. It’s too early to drop. 100 million for eight rounds remember?’
The nature of the fight, which saw Paul regularly clinching with Mayweather, was widely mocked on social media.
A funny picture from the fight of the pair grabbing onto each other went viral on social media
One viewer claimed that fans ‘paid to watch two men hugging’ at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami
Fans on social media joked that the pair just hugged for eight rounds in their exhibition bout
Fans were quick to take to Twitter to make light of the bout, with one user writing: ‘Hugging. We paid to watch two men hugging. Not boxing.’
Another person mocked the two fighters up as a husband and wife in a wedding photo, while another popular tweet depicted the duo as Spongebob Squarepants and Patrick.
A box of Nappies was also used to mock the bout, with the pair added on the package clinging onto each other. The words ‘little snugglers’ are beside them.
Paul and Mayweather were mocked up by one fan as a loving couple on their wedding day
One Twitter user posted a picture from Spongebob Squarepants to describe the exhibition
Mayweather and Paul grabbing each other during the fight was the target for many viewers
Mayweather (pictured previously) and Paul made millions from their pay-per-view showdown
Having admitted his disbelief at the outcome, Paul lavished praise on Mayweather – a stark contrast to the bitter war of words exchanged in the fight’s build-up.
‘He’s one of the GOATs, and in many ways he controls this sport to the tee, that’s what makes him great,’ Paul added. ‘It’s an honour to grace the ring with him.
‘Man, this is the coolest thing ever. I’m happy I made it out. He’s old, but he’s tough to hit.’
Mayweather, meanwhile, has admitted he ‘probably won’t do another exhibition’ after being taken the full distance.
Mayweather is pictured connecting with Paul again, who was able to continue battling away
Paul stepped back into the ring against Mayweather for just the second time professionally
‘I wanted to give people a show and he was fighting to survive, he was the bigger guy but his background was wrestling so he was good at tying me up,’ said Mayweather.
‘Just going the distance was a win for him. He can grapple and was good at holding. When a guy that size is holding you, it’s hard to get him off you. I had fun, he did too. It was cool.
‘A guy that’s retired, training a few days a week, for me to be retired, be a grandfather and fight a guy in his 20’s. When the money comes, we will see who the winner is.’
To celebrate the shock outcome, Paul pulled off a handstand in the ring and was in a fine mood
Mayweather admitted he may not do another exhibition again after being taken the distance