Floyd Mayweather-Logan Paul Fight Will Have No Winner, But Knockouts Are 'Allowed'

Logan Paul and Floyd Mayweather are going to fight each other on June 6. It is the latest boxing bout for Paul and his transition from YouTube personality to fighter, and the event will mark the first time we've seen Mayweather in a ring since 2018, when he fought kickboxer Tenshin Nasukawa in Japan.

As was the case with the previous Paul fights, this is just one big scheme to make everyone a lot of money. And it's going to work, too. Any boxing enthusiasts who are tempted to tune in to see Mayweather show an amateur how it's done will be disappointed. The situation is closer to WWE than actual boxing, down to the performative "fight" that nearly happened during a press conference after Paul stole Mayweather's hat.

If we needed more proof of this concept, the rules were announced today. There will be no winner or judges. Knockouts are "allowed" which is apparently something that needed to be clarified. It is setting up to be the latest PPV boxing disappointment and will still be more than worth everyone's while because people will still buy the fight thanks to the brand recognition involved.

This is all very dumb, but I do have a few questions. What happens if someone (A.K.A. Paul, obviously) gets knocked out? Does that mean Mayweather is not the winner if there are no winners? A K.O. is an automatic forfeit in normal fights, but forfeiting implies there is a winner and a loser, and there are no winners. Furthermore, what are people going to bet on if there aren't winners or judges? Just how long Paul will last against one of the greatest boxers of all time?

Eight three-minute rounds is not a particularly long fight, and while Paul is not a boxer at all he demonstrated at least basic skills in previous fights. There is a pretty good chance that he conditions himself to take enough hits from Mayweather to last through the fight. It's not like Mayweather is going to go for the knockout punch out of the gate, anyway. He never did that even when he was in his prime fighting real boxing matches against actual champion boxers.

But I do suppose the rules lay out what we already know: in this, there are no losers. Paul and Mayweather are both going to walk away with a boatload of money even as everyone who bought the fight complains about how bad it was. That's the way it goes.