Paul, a novice but much younger, bigger, goes distance in exhibition vs. Mayweather

No official winner, but Floyd took over after 2nd round

Floyd Mayweather, the retired all-time great five-division champion and longtime pound-for-pound king, and Logan Paul, the novice boxer far more known for his YouTube videos and social media presence, won’t make anyone forget about classic fights of the past after their eight-round exhibition on Sunday night.

Still, they appeared to turn in honest efforts in a fight in which no official decision would be rendered — though knockouts were allowed — as the much bigger and younger Paul lasted the distance with Mayweather in the main event of a Showtime PPV at rainy Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, Florida.

It was by no means a scintillating fight. In fact, it featured a lot of Paul grabbing and holding, especially as he tired in the later rounds, and was bereft of any sustained offense from either fighter, neither of whom landed many solid punches.

But the vast size difference between the 6-foot-2, 189.5-pound Paul and Mayweather, who is 5-8 and was a career-heavy 155 pounds, made for interesting viewing and an opportunity to see the all-time great Mayweather, 44, in the ring once again after having had his last official fight nearly four years ago — his memorable 10th-round knockout of UFC star Conor McGregor in August 2017.

“He was strong, tough. He's better than I thought he was,” said Mayweather, who figures to bank tens of millions of dollars while Paul also should reach eight figures. “I was surprised by him tonight. That was some good little work. We had fun. I had fun tonight.”

Although Mayweather (50-0, 27 KOs) certainly appeared to win handily it has to be considered something of a victory for Paul (0-1), who lasted the distance with a legend despite coming into the bout having had only one pro fight and one amateur bout for a total of six rounds of boxing.

“I don't want anyone to tell me anything is impossible ever again,” Paul said. “The fact that I got in here with one of the greatest boxers of all time, it proves the odds can be beat. Anyone can beat the odds and do great things in life. This is one of the greatest moments of my life. I’m happy.

“It’s an honor to grace the ring with him. He's one of the GOATs. This is one of the coolest things ever.”

Paul, 26, of Los Angeles, was in excellent shape and seemed to win the first two rounds thanks to a combination of his stalking forward and Mayweather doing virtually nothing. According to CompuBox statistics, Paul landed one punch in the second round — a stiff right hand — and Mayweather landed none.

Las Vegas’ Mayweather, however, picked up the pace in the third round and seemed to sweep the rest of the fight. Fight Freaks Unite had Mayweather winning 78-74.

Mayweather closed out the third round landing a good left hook that Paul took well. He landed more hooks and right hands in the fourth round and was walking down Paul, who became more defensive and forced referee Samuel Burgos to continually break them up.

"Even without much experience, he knew to use his weight to tie me up tonight,” Mayweather said.

Mayweather dug to Paul’s body in the fifth round, countered him well and landed a right hand that forced Paul to hang on.

By the sixth round, Paul’s left eye showed mild swelling and Mayweather appeared to be toying with him but not pressing for a knockout.

According to CompuBox statistics, Mayweather landed 43 of 107 punches (40 percent) and Paul landed 28 of 217 (13 percent).

Showtime announced it will replay the bout June 12 at 10:05 p.m. ET/PT.

Jack knocks out Colina

Former super middleweight and light heavyweight world titlist Badou Jack scored three knockdowns in a one-sided fourth-round knockout of late replacement Dervin Colina in a light heavyweight bout.

Jack (24-3-3, 14 KOs), 37, of Las Vegas, was supposed to challenge secondary light heavyweight titlist Jean Pascal in a rematch of Pascal’s split decision win in December 2019. However, Pascal tested positive for four different banned substances in random Voluntary Anti-Doping Association-administered tests on May 7 and May 14, the results of which came back in late May and early June, and he was dropped from the card.

In came Colina (15-1, 13 KOs), 33, of Venezuela, who had fought all of his previous bouts in against low level opposition in his home country. He was badly overmatched and took multiple warnings from referee Frank Santore for excessive holding. Santore docked him one point for it in the second round and Colina flirted with disqualification it in the third round when he lost another point.

“He was trying to hold a lot and survive,” Jack said. “I fight better when I fight better opponents. I was a little sloppy. The world class fights are when I perform the best.”

Jack landed several hard body punches and dropped him dropped him three times in the fourth round. After the third knockdown, on a right hand, Santore waved off the fight at 2 minutes, 57 seconds.

“The game plan was just to outbox him,” Jack said. “Everything else will come. Definitely, hit the body. He was a little soft in the body but give him respect. He came out on short notice. He was supposed to fight next week but this is a different level.”

Jack landed 42 of 161 punches (26 percent), according to CompuBox, and Colina landed just 17 of 99 (17 percent).

Jack now wants to move up in weight.

“My goal is to become a three-division world champion,” Jack said. “I walk around very heavy. I’m about to be 38 this year and I don’t like to cut weight so I’ll get with my team and see what’s next.”

Arias upsets Hurd

Luis Arias came into a middleweight fight with former unified junior middleweight world titlist Jarrett Hurd 0-2-1 in his last three and had been told by those close to him to retire and get a new job.

Arias did not listen and instead took it to Hurd and scored the well-deserved split decision upset in an action-packed battle for the biggest win of his now re-ignited career. Two judges had it for Arias, 97-93 and 96-93, and one had it generously for Hurd, 95-94, in a fight that included downpours of rain that caused the fight be halted multiple times to mop up water in the ring.

“We’re here,” Arias said. “I never quit on myself. People close to me were telling me to get a job and quit boxing. I just beat a former champion. Don’t ever give up on yourself.”

Hurd opened a bloody cut on Arias’ forehead in the second round but he did not seem fazed by it. Arias (19-2-1, 9 KOs) worked Hurd (24-2, 16 KOs) over in the third round with heavy right hands. They battled toe-to-toe for most of the fight, but more often than not it was Arias getting the better of it against Hurd, who dropped to 1-2 in his last three. The other defeat was his title loss to Julian “J Rock” Williams in May 2019.

Arias, 30, of Milwaukee, took some hard shots but his right hand was his key weapon. He landed many clean ones, constantly backed Hurd, 30, of Accokeek, Maryland, into the ropes and dished out significant punishment in the final minute of the eighth round.

In the ninth round, Hurd, in his second fight with trainer Kay Koroma, got credit for a knockdown but referee Chris Young badly missed the call. Video replays showed that no punch came close to landing and Arias slipped on the wet mat.

“I was able to edge a decision,” Arias said. “Props to Jarrett Hurd. You fought a great fight. Honestly, you could have had me out of there. I was definitely buzzed. If you would have found a way, I definitely would have gone down. He is a great fighter and like I told him afterwards, he came in here and fought his heart out. He definitely should have taken more time off with what he was dealing with outside of the ring.”

Hurd came into the fight having dealt with the death of his father, Fred Hurd Sr., to Covid-19 at age 63 on March 11.

“I would like to thank (trainer) Ismael Salas,” Arias said. “I came to him semi-late — about six or seven weeks — and I needed to change something in my game plan to beat Jarrett. The things I was doing before would have gotten me a loss tonight. I needed somebody to just tweak a little bit and put my game up a little bit so I could beat this champion. Jarrett is a hell of a fighter and he’s not done.”

According to CompuBox, Arias landed 163 of 478 punches (34 percent) and Hurd landed 151 of 501 (30 percent).

Hurd took the fight at middleweight at his request but said ahead of time he planned to return to junior middleweight to go after his old titles. Now, he may instead be going after Arias in a rematch.

“I’m not sure what went wrong. I believe I won the fight,” Hurd said. “I had a knockdown. I could make a hundred excuses but it wasn’t a great performance. The plan coming out in the first round was to box. I wasn't as confident in my feet as the rain came down, so I had to go toe-to-toe more. That wasn't really what we trained for, so I was a bit sloppy. I'll take the rematch at whatever weight. I know I'm the better man.”

Johnson survives knockdown

In his first fight, former Cincinnati Bengals star wide receiver Chad Johnson survived a fourth-round knockdown by Brian Maxwell to go the four-round distance in their cruiserweight exhibition bout that opened the pay-per-view card.

Also known as Ochocinco, Johnson, 43, who is from Miami, appeared much bigger than Maxwell and landed a few solid punches in the early going. He seemed to be in control through three rounds. However, in the fourth round, Maxwell, 33, of Roanoke, Virginia, who is 0-1 as a boxer, 0-3 in BKFC bouts and 2-3 in MMA fights, nailed Johnson with a right hand for a clean knockdown. Johnson beat the count and survived another 40 or so seconds to the end of the bout.

“I had fun. I had two months to get ready for this and I want to thank God for keeping us safe out there,” said Johnson, who did some training with brothers Jermell and Jermall Charlo, who are both world titleholders. “I want to thank Floyd, (Mayweather Promotions CEO) Leonard Ellerbe and my whole team for allowing me to check this off my bucket list. My life has always been about taking chances and doing crazy stuff and this is just one off my bucket list. It’s a message for a lot of people who are scared to fail, scared to lose, scared to take chances to go out there and live. Don’t be scared to fail. It’s OK. I don’t box. I fight but it ain’t in the ring so, of course, I was a little sloppy.”

Maxwell, a huge fan of Johnson’s, was thrilled for the opportunity.

“Ask the world who Brian Maxwell is now. Brain Maxwell is here,” Maxwell said. “Thank you, Chad. It was an honor fighting my idol and I appreciate it.”

Photos: Amanda Westcott/Showtime