UFC boss Dana White has mocked the state of boxing after it was confirmed that Floyd Mayweather, 43, would come out of retirement once again to fight YouTuber Logan Paul.
White said: "When people ask me what's the state of boxing right now, that's where it's at."
"Didn't that kid get beat up by the f****** video game kid from England and now he's going to fight Floyd Mayweather?" he said, referring to Logan Paul's defeat by fellow YouTuber KSI in 2019.
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White’s comments come only days after Mike Tyson, now aged 54, fought former middleweight legend Roy Jones, 51, in an exhibition bout.
Rapper Snoop Dogg likened it to "like watching my two uncles fighting at a barbecue."
While boxing has been hit hard by the pandemic, which has forced fights to go ahead without any fans, the younger generation who follow YouTubers have been happy to watch celebrity bouts between people who are not professional boxers.
Last week Logan Paul’s brother, fellow YouTuber Jake Paul, knocked out Nate Robinson, a retired basketball player.
it’s official 🥊 @FloydMayweatherhttps://t.co/fFRRaYoUCs pic.twitter.com/0kZhKrQAno
— Logan Paul (@LoganPaul) December 6, 2020
Mayweather retired with a ring record of 50-0 in 2017 after defeating UFC fighter Conor McGregor, who was making his boxing debut.
While boxing afficionados turned their nose up at the bout, it got huge viewing figures and both men earned huge fees.
Mayweather picked up US$9 million in 2018 when he fought - and knocked out - Japanese kickboxer Tenshin Nasukawa, who was also making his Queensberry Rules debut.
We currently live in a world where Floyd Mayweather can have an exhibition bout with Logan Paul with minimal effort but Bud Crawford v Spence Jr is still no closer to materialising #boxing
— Leith WT Monro 🏴 (@LeithMonz) December 7, 2020
The American - whose nickname is Money - is now set to get another big cheque for a fight with Logan Paul, 25, on 20 February next year.
Mayweather will be six inches shorter than Paul, who is six feet two, but he is already the hot favourite.
Back in the real world of professional boxing Britain’s world heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua will defend his WBA, IBF and WBO titles against Bulgaria’s Kubrat Pulev on Saturday 12 December.
But the fight has not enthused the boxing public and it is not clear how many British fans will shell out £25 to watch it on pay-per-view.
Meanwhile there is still no sign of the two best pound-for-fight fighters - Terence Crawford and Errol Spence - in the bout which all true boxing fans have been waiting for.
