Floyd Mayweather, Tyron Woodley recast as heroes as fight fans pray they can shut Jake and Logan Paul up

Fight fans find themselves in the oddest of camps, rooting for a universally -disliked boxer and a blase former UFC champ who never connected
Now Mayweather and Woodley can don capes for one night if they can knock out Logan and Jake respectively

Patrick Blennerhassett

Published: 9:00pm, 3 Jun 2021

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It’s a sentence most fight fans thought they would never utter in their life.

“I’m rooting for a Floyd Mayweather knockout.”

This weekend, the absurdist theatre show that is celebrity boxing takes another dramatic turn as one of the greatest boxers of all-time takes on a guy who became famous by posting six second clips on a now defunct social media site called Vine.

The non-sanctioned, no judges exhibition match won’t technically produce a winner, but no matter, the public will cast their verdict one way or another. How we got to this point in recorded history, where truth is always stranger than fiction, shows the post-Donald Trump, pandemic landscape we now encounter and call home: anything goes and anything can happen, so grab some popcorn and fire up Twitter.

The Shakespearean tragedy to all this is Logan Paul is so hated by the mainstream sporting world, and the entire planet in general, that somehow Mayweather, one of the most loathed boxers of all-time, can play the role of hero on Sunday at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens. How did this elaborate ruse come together you ask? Money, of course. Mayweather only emerges from his faux retirement cave when he smells green, and this time, it was too much to pass up – US$10 million in base pay and half of the pay-per-view buys on Showtime.

Paul, 26, on the other hand, represents the next generation of stars now trying to upset the natural order of the world. Mayweather, 44, who has been a part of a traditional sporting art for decades, fighting the likes Arturo Gatti, Oscar de la Hoya, Canelo Alvarez, Manny Pacquiao and yes, Conor McGregor, now squares off against a guy whose pugilism experience includes fighting an English YouTuber and rapper named “KSI” who got his start uploading Fifa video game commentary videos from his parent’s house.

Floyd Mayweather, boxing legend, versus Logan Paul, social media star. How did we get here? Photo: AFP

What can we expect during the actual fight? Well despite Paul having a significant size and age advantage, one would think Mayweather, whose skills as a boxer are literally second to none, will find a way to overcome what should be a guy who will quickly realise he’s bit off more than he can chew when it comes to cardio.

Then, all gods willing, we will get a knockout from Mayweather, although we may have to hold our collective breaths a few rounds until Paul gets tired, drops his guard and starts making rookie mistakes every few seconds.

Everyone hates Floyd Mayweather, but will we love him for a night? Photo: Reuters

For a brief, fleeting moment, the sporting world will then applaud Mayweather’s win, watch what will surely be a scuffle ringside involving everyone and their dog’s entourages, maybe a few more stolen hats, and then we can all go back to our normal lives and actually start ignoring Paul.

But wait, there is another act in this tragicomedy, and it involves an even more boisterous loudmouth in the form of Logan’s younger brother Jake Paul. Unless you’ve been stuck in quarantine without Wi-Fi for the past 18 months, you know Jake’s story all too well: he capped off knocking out former NBA player Nate Robinson by knocking out retired former UFC fighter Ben “Dad Bod” Askren.

Let’s get one thing straight right off the bat: Tyron Woodley, who is next in line to fight the world’s current court jester in August, is nothing like the previous fighters Jake has lined up against. Yes, Woodley is 39 and Jake Paul is 24, and yes Woodley lost his last four fights in the UFC with no new contract offered. But he is no slouch and you can bet your bottom dollar he will not be phoning in this fight like Askren did.

Woodley, who was often seen as too bland and boring outside the Octagon, and was overlooked when he finally did win the welterweight belt, can now play hero to an even bigger villain. Woodley knows he is going to get paid, and walk away with a lot of cash, but unlike Askren, who got dummied by Jake Paul in the first round, he knows his reputation is on the line, and will be training like a madman knowing the entire world will judge his entire life on this one fight.

Can Tryon Woodley bring Jake Paul back down to earth with a life-shattering knockout? Photo: USA Today

As a former wrestler, Woodley was always more dangerous on the ground, but let us not forget this guy won the belt back in 2016 by knocking out Robbie Lawler, then defended it multiple times against guys known for their striking abilities. This is not Askren, who only fought in the UFC three times, and lost two of them.

When the dust settles, hopefully both Paul brothers will be on the canvas, starry-eyed, staring upwards at the brights lights of this modern era, wondering why the glow of their 15 minutes of fame is now fading faster than a Tik Tok trend. We pray, for one night, we see Mayweather and Woodley as the saviours, the final curtain calls of what has been a silly, downright embarrassing foray into the fantastically stupid for the fight game.

But this is 2021 – truth is now always stranger than fiction, and we have come to expect the unexpected. One last twist or two in this preposterous story of the Paul brothers may still be in the cards, and you can expect everyone will be on the edge of their seats waiting with bated breath.