In a packed Fight Talk this week we look at how the boxing world reacted to Floyd Mayweather’s exhibition bout with Logan Paul in Miami on Sunday.
We also review Daniel Dubois and Tommy Fury’s wins on Saturday night and discuss the latest social media spats, with lightweight champion Devin Haney and rival Ryan Garcia involved in a Twitter back-and-forth, while Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez and his former promoter Oscar de la Hoya exchange words on Instagram.
‘Not a good look for Floyd’ & ‘hats off to Logan’
One of the most talked about fights of the year involved a retired 44-year-old legend taking on a YouTuber.
Americans Floyd Mayweather and Logan Paul went the distance in their eight-round clash, with no winner being declared under the ‘exhibition’ rules.
From the moment the fight was first announced, there was much debate on whether the clash was good for the sport or not.
Traditionalists felt it cheapened boxing, while others welcomed the younger fans it could attract.
Nevertheless, it was widely predicted that Mayweather – one of the greatest of all time, who won all 50 of his professional fights – would knockout 26-year-old Paul.
Despite hardly landing a glove on Mayweather, Paul still earned the praise of this former UFC heavyweight champion…
British YouTuber KSI, who beat Paul in a professional contest in 2019, riled up boxing purists with this tongue-in-cheek tweet…
While Mexican superstar Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez, who lost to Mayweather in 2013, needed just the one emoji to sum up his thoughts…
One of the biggest gripes about the fight was the amount of money involved, with both men reportedly earning several million dollars for the night’s work.
‘Money’ Mayweather himself described it as a “legalised bank robbery”, which left Francis Ngannou – the current UFC heavyweight champion – pondering what his sport was doing wrong…
…while other boxers wondered whether they could earn an easy pay day…
Mayweather says he will stay retired from the sport and is unlikely to take part in any more exhibition bouts.
But you get the feeling this isn’t the last we’ll see of Logan Paul in the ring.
Dubois ‘back stronger’ with KO win
Daniel ‘Dynamite’ Dubois was back with a bang on Saturday night as he knocked out Romanian Bogdan Dinu in the second round of their heavyweight clash.
His performance impressed this former world champion…
The 23-year-old was fighting for the first time since fracturing an eye socket in the loss to fellow Briton Joe Joyce in November.
Dubois was on ‘That Peter Crouch Podcast’ last month and vowed to be ‘back stronger’ – a catchphrase coined by the popular podcast.
Former England footballer Peter Crouch and presenter Chris Stark were pleased to play a role in the Londoner’s win…
Could Jake Paul beat Tommy Fury?
Also on Saturday we saw the return of former Love Island star Tommy Fury.
The 22-year-old cruiserweight had won four of his five previous professional bouts by knockout, prompting many boxing fans to question the level of his opposition.
But this time he didn’t have it all his own way as he came up against Scotland’s Jordan Grant.
Tommy, younger brother of WBC heavyweight champion Tyson Fury, took some hits and had to work hard for a four-round points victory.
He faced further criticism from fans after the win but, having had only 10 amateur bouts before turning professional, Fury admitted he still has plenty to learn.
“I’m not Sugar Ray Leonard and I’m not claiming to be – I’m Tommy Fury and I’m trying to do the best I can do,” he said. “This is not a sprint, it’s a marathon”
So what next for Fury?
He has been involved in a back-and-forth with YouTuber Jake Paul – brother of Logan – in recent months, and some fans now think the American could beat him.
Or there’s Marsellos Wilder, brother of former world champion Deontay Wilder.
In last week’s Fight Talk we mentioned the possibility of Tommy Fury taking on Marsellos Wilder on the undercard of the third fight between their brothers Tyson and Deontay in Las Vegas on 24 July.
Well, the younger Wilder sibling is up for the challenge…
Deontay’s dancing in the dark
Meanwhile the senior Wilder sibling is back in training for the trilogy fight with WBC champion Fury.
The American drew the first fight in 2018, before losing his belt to the Briton last year.
Another defeat will leave his career hanging in the balance, but a call from Strictly Come Dancing might be incoming…
No love lost in the lightweight division
The lightweight division is arguably the hottest weight class in world boxing.
And leading the way are four young, undefeated American superstars: Gervonta Davis, 26, Teofimo Lopez, 23, Ryan Garcia, 22, and Devin Haney, 22.
Unified world champion Lopez is at the top of his game, WBC title-holder Haney is brimming with potential, the popular Garcia has shown he is more than just an Instagram fighter and the relentless power-punching Davis has knocked out 23 of his 24 opponents.
Even more pleasing for boxing fans, there is plenty of spite between the four of them.
And in the latest episode of lightweight Twitter spats, it was Garcia v Haney, with a surprise appearance from Britain’s Luke Campbell.
Garcia, who had taken some time out to concentrate on his mental health, announced he was ready to return to the ring…
He then had a pop at Haney, criticising his rival’s performance in the win over experienced Venezuelan Jorge Linares last month.
Garcia’s last win was a seventh-round stoppage of Olympic gold medallist Campbell in January.
But he did get floored by the Hull fighter in the second round, something Haney was happy to point out…
The gifted Campbell has twice challenged for a world title, losing against Linares in 2017 and Lomachenko in 2019.
The 33-year-old has been somewhat unfortunate to be fighting in the current lightweight era, although he didn’t take kindly to his name being mentioned by Haney…
It is still not certain whether Campbell will continue boxing after suffering a fourth career loss to Garcia.
As for the four Americans, the rivalries will only get more heated and it’s matter of time before we see the best fighting the best in the 135-pound division.
And don’t write off Lomachenko – who lost to Lopez in October – either.
The three-weight world champion and two-time Olympic gold medallist is looking sharp before his clash with Japan’s Masayoshi Nakatani on 26 June…
De la Hoya & Canelo in social media spat
The bad blood between Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez and his former promoter Oscar de la Hoya is still going strong.
Alvarez – who beat Briton Billy Joe Saunders in a super-middleweight unification fight last month – officially parted ways with De la Hoya’s Golden Boy Promotions in November.
The split was acrimonious, and this past week De la Hoya had a little swipe at his ex-fighter.
In a video that showed Canelo teaching a young boxer some basics of the sport, the American fighter-turned-promoter replied with this…
Alvarez responded by calling De la Hoya a “traitor,” along with a few expletives.
In March, De la Hoya said he was planning to make his boxing comeback – 13 years after retiring. The 48-year-old held 11 titles across six weight divisions in a 16-year career, before retiring in 2008.
We have seen some strange things happen in boxing, but surely we won’t see the pound-for-pound king Alvarez taking on his former boss in a grudge match, will we?
