In this week’s Fight Talk we look at reports American great Floyd Mayweather has been approached by YouTuber Logan Paul to take part in an exhibition fight later this year.
We also discuss the heavyweight clash between Briton Derek Chisora and Ukraine’s Oleksandr Usyk, while former heavyweight king Mike Tyson, 54, nearly takes his coach’s head off in a training session before his fight with 51-year-old fellow American Roy Jones Jr in November.
Mayweather ‘approached’ to fight YouTuber Paul
Floyd Mayweather: One of the greatest and most gifted fighters we’ve ever seen, undefeated in 50 fights.
Logan Paul: A controversial YouTuber, lost his only professional bout.
Surely the two would never, ever meet in the ring. That’s just silly talk, right?
Erm, well, money talks and according to TMZ, social media star Paul, 25, has approached Mayweather, 43, about potentially fighting in an exhibition bout later this year.
Mayweather’s last sanctioned bout was a win over UFC star Conor McGregor in 2017. The following year, he stopped Japanese kickboxer Tenshin Nasukawa in an exhibition fight which was worth a reported $9m.
Paul lost his boxing debut against fellow social media star KSI in November. In terms of global interest, pay-per-view numbers and revenue generated, it was a super-fight.
But it was also one which riled up boxing aficionados, with many feeling that two novices headlining a fight night was disrespectful to the sport.
And while reports suggest Mayweather will probably reject the proposal from Paul, fans are still far from happy…
Usyk and Chisora to clash on 31 October
The coronavirus pandemic inflicted a huge dent in world boxing and postponed major fights in 2020. The heavyweight clash between Ukraine’s Usyk and Britain’s Chisora, originally scheduled for May, has now been confirmed for 31 October.
It will be an intriguing match-up with two real characters of the sport. The undefeated Usyk achieved everything he could in the cruiserweight division, winning all the belts. But there are still uncertainties over whether he can mix it with the big boys of the heavyweight division.
Chisora is as experienced as they come and, fresh off victories over Poland’s Artur Szpilka and Liverpool’s David Price, is enjoying a real golden period towards the end of his career.
Away from their in-ring abilities, the two fighters are pure box-office entertainment.
Usyk has been sparring Briton Dave Allen, who is quite the joker himself. Allen was a little shocked by Usyk’s taste in music…
When he’s not busy belting out Simply the Best, Usyk posts videos on social media like this…
And this week, Chisora – along with his manager David Haye – decided to reply with a video of his own…
You can be sure that the build-up, news conferences and weigh-in for this fight will be weird yet wonderful.
Iron Mike looking sharp
Sticking with the heavyweights, former world champion and arguably one of the most ferocious punchers to ever lace the gloves, Mike Tyson is continuing his preparations ahead of his ‘comeback’ exhibition bout.
The 54-year-old, once known as ‘the baddest man on the planet’, will take on fellow American great Roy Jones Jr, 51, on 28 November.
There are many critics of Iron Mike’s return to boxing 15 years on from his last bout, while others have got carried away and even suggested he could be a world champion again.
But let’s just ignore all that for a few seconds and appreciate the shape Tyson has got himself in and the way in which he can still unleash that explosive right hook…
It’s a good job that coach Rafael Cordeiro has pretty decent reflexes.
