This week featured a large amount of action in the celebrity boxing realm. Arguably the greatest boxer of all time dropped a hit list featuring several high profile names. The week also featured a bout between former MLB Star Jose Canseco and a Barstool Sports Intern that left Canseco on the mat in seconds. This led some to believe the 56-year-old Canseco took a dive in order to collect a check. So with all the action, here is your celebrity boxing roundup.
Mayweather Wants The Pauls & 50 Cent
Floyd Mayweather (50-0) was slated to face Youtuber and Podcaster Logan Paul (0-1) in a bout on February 20th. However, due to what both sides are claiming as “COVID and Business Issues,†the fight has been postponed. Mayweather originally planned to fight Paul before heading to Japan to continue his exhibition slate there. Now, according to his Instagram, he has two other fights he wants following the Paul bout before he heads to Japan.
Mayweather addressed the postponement of the bout with Paul before going on to call out to other celebrities. The first challenge was thrown out to Jake Paul (2-0). Jake, the younger Paul brother, has taken the boxing world by storm to this point with, most notably, his knockout of former NBA star Nate Robinson on the Tyson v Jones undercard. Jake is slated to fight former MMA Star Askren on April 17th in what will be Askren’s boxing debut. Following that, though, it looks like Mayweather wants to take both Pauls out as he stated, “and if Jake can get past his next opponent Ben Asken, I will have an exhibition with him as well.†Mayweather went on in another post to take shots at the younger Paul and the way he treats African Americans.
Aside from the Pauls, Mayweather also issued a challenge to popular rapper Curtis Jackson better known as 50 Cent, who has had disagreements with Mayweather in the past. With the two taking verbal jabs at one another about reading capabilities and size. 50 Cent has no known professional boxing experience, but he trains with boxing often and boxed when he was a kid.
Mayweather is evidently looking to capitalize on the lure of celebrity boxing in order to make significant money, as recent payperview trends have proven that it is a viable alternative to other less lucrative bouts he could take. All three of his intended bouts shouldn’t give Mayweather too much of a challenge if he ultimately decides to fight each.
Jose Canseco’s Money Grab
On this past Friday night, at Barstool Sports boxing event, Rough N Rowdy, the headline bout was former MLB star Jose Canseco against Barstool Intern William Cotter, better known as Billy Football. The intern is a former college football player who has spent a bulk of his time in college working for Pardon My Take, a Barstool podcast. In the bout, Billy ambushed Canseco knocking him out in the first ten seconds. This led to many speculating Canseco took a dive and threw the bout, given he said he has had a shoulder tear for 3-4 months. Canseco has been a part of speculation about throwing bouts for money in the past, and this has furthered that even more.