We all knew Floyd Mayweather was going to make a bag cash for his bout with YouTube performer Logan Paul and now we have some proof.
The undefeated boxing legend was caught on video saying he earned $100 million (north of AUD $130 million) for his clash with Paul, which he called a "fake fight."
Mayweather's comments were caught on mics at a press conference following Gervonta Davis' (25-0) 11th-round knockout of Mario Barrios in their WBA super lightweight title fight in Atlanta on the weekend. Davis is one of the stars of the Mayweather Promotions stable and Floyd was at the fight, with some of his antics raising eyebrows.
"I'm the only person you know that can do a fake fight and get 100 Ms (millions)," Mayweather said walking off the stage. "I could do legalised sparring and get 100 Ms."
"Am I the best bank robber?" Mayweather continued. "Because I don't know nobody in sports that's my age that can still stick 'em up like that."
Mayweather was highly visible on the night and made no attempt to stay in the background as the multiple titleholder went to work.
The former champion was seen issuing instructions to Davis throughout the fight, even telling the 26-year-old he was losing on the scorecards as he sat on his stool before the tenth round.
https://twitter.com/MichaelBensonn/status/1409193064665600007?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
"Floyd came to me and was honest and said I was down. I knew I was down," Davis said after the bout. "So he said show me that you're great. … I can't compare myself to all the greats just yet. You know this man set the tone. I'm just following in his footsteps."
Davis dropped Barrios twice in the eighth round, first with a right hook about a minute in, and again soon after the restart with a left hook. Even with Davis' domination of that round, judges had scored the fight even through eight rounds.
Barrios rallied in the ninth, leading to Mayweather to call out his fighter from outside the ring. After being told he was losing on the scorecards, Davis was able to rally and end the fight in the 11th round by stoppage.
While some may say the boxing legend's actions were pivotal in getting Davis to lift his intensity, others called out the star for "distracting" Davis and his team during the fight.
"There's a lot to say about Floyd Mayweather," said DZN's boxing commentator Akin Reyes.
"Not only was he interrupting coach Calvin throughout the fight, in the corner, on a prize championship fight, he was distracting Davis, not once, not twice.
"I don't know how many rounds he did it — but in the post fight press conference he also went back to what he normally does, talking about himself and the way he moved up in weight classes, comparing it to the way Gervonta is moving up in weight classes.
"And he didn't even want to grab a microphone when he was offered a microphone saying I don't need that. But he actually didn't need it because you can barely hear him talking. But I'm used to dealing with that, we know that Floyd Mayweather usually does that.
"He talks about himself often. He's gone into the corner to give Gervonta instructions throughout a fight."
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