In one of the most unlikely athletic competitions ever, retired boxing legend Floyd Mayweather is getting back in the ring to take on popular and controversial YouTube star Logan Paul. The fight is scheduled to take place on February 20, and it is expected to put up some big pay-per-view numbers. Both of the fighters will reportedly see a percentage of that PPV money, but if the latest rumors are to be believed, Money Mayweather will see significantly more of that purse than Paul.
The first report of the alleged monetary figures came from Drama Alert and its host and creator Keemstar. The well-established YouTube channel boasts almost 6 million subscribers and covers the latest in YouTube/ TikTok/ Instagram/ new media celebrity comings and goings. During the channel’s most recent report, Keem outlined the alleged money breakdown on the fight. He claims Mayweather will be paid a guaranteed $5M upfront, as well as 50% of all the PPV sales, while Paul will allegedly only be paid $200,000 up front and make 5% of all the PPV sales.
It’s not a surprise Mayweather would be making more money for the fight (if the report is indeed accurate). He reportedly took home almost $300M (on a $100M guarantee) for his fight with UFC legend Conor McGregor, and his career prior to that was littered with gigantic purses for fights with big names like Manny Pacquiao and Oscar De La Hoya. He’s, at least to most people, the bigger name and certainly has the longer history of negotiating PPV splits, but both Logan Paul and his brother Jake Paul have started proving there is a market for them too.
Earlier this year, Jake Paul knocked out Nate Robinson on the undercard of a fight between Mike Tyson and Roy Jones Jr that generated 1.6M PPV buys, and prior to that both Paul brothers fought on the same card against KSI and Deji Olatunji and did 1.3M PPV buys. That’s really impressive, but compared to the 5M plus buys Mayweather has put up for some of his bigger fights, there’s still a long way to go.
It’s pretty easy to see why Mayweather would come out of retirement for this fight: easy money. The career 50-0 former champion might have a height, weight and age disadvantage, but he’s also a real boxer with one of the most impressive resumes ever. It’s hard to imagine he won’t score a pretty straightforward victory, and if he can put up some big PPV numbers, the upside here is tremendous. From Paul’s perspective, he can certainly earn some solid money here and it’ll increase his fame, but if he gets beat up too badly, it might hurt his chances of booking more fights in the future. Most people won’t pay to watch someone lose more than a few times.
That being said, it’s important to once again be very clear that we’re only dealing with rumors right now. While I would be very surprised if Mayweather didn’t make quite a bit more money, we don’t know the actual monetary breakdown with certainty. So, until this gets officially confirmed, definitely treat these exact numbers with at least a little bit of suspicion.
