FIGHT WEEK
FLOYD MAYWEATHER, 44, RETURNS TO THE RING AGAINST YOUTUBER LOGAN PAUL IN A PAY-PER-VIEW EXHIBITION IN MIAMI.
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DANIEL DUBOIS (15-1, 14 KOs)
vs. BOGDAN DINU (20-2, 16 KOs)
- When: Saturday, June 5
- Where: Telford International Centre, Telford, England
- TV/Stream: BT Sport (in U.K.)
- Division: Heavyweights
- At stake: No titles
- Pound-for-pound ranking: None
- Odds: NA
- Also on the card: Archie Sharp vs. Marcio Soza, junior lightweights; Nathan Heaney vs. Iliyan Markov, middleweights
- Prediction: Dubois KO 6
Background: Dubois, the highly touted heavyweight prospect, begins the rebuilding process after his 10th-round knockout loss to Joe Joyce this past November. The 23-year-old Londoner was fighting Joyce on even terms when he retired because of a left eye-socket injury, which turned out to be an orbital fracture. Dubois is fully healed and hungry to get back in the win column, which might be bad news for Dinu. The 34-year-old Romanian has had success against second-tier opposition but he was stopped against elite foes Jarrell Miller (KO 4) and Kubrat Pulev (KO 7) in 2018 and 2019. He knocked out journeymen Osborn Machimana and Frank Bluemle since that setback, the latter fight having taken place this past October. Dinu matches Dubois in size – they’re both 6-foot-5, 240-something – but not in ability. The Englishman figures to make a strong statement.
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FLOYD MAYWEATHER JR. (50-0, 27 KOs)
vs. LOGAN PAUL (0-1, 0 KOs)
- When: Sunday, June 6
- Where: Hard Rock Stadium, Miami
- TV/Stream: Pay-per-view
- Cost: $49.99
- Division: Mayweather has 160-pound limit, Paul 190-pound limit
- At stake: No titles (six-round exhibition)
- Pound-for-pound ranking: None
- Odds: NA
- Also on the card: Badou Jack vs. TBA, light heavyweights (tentative); Jarret Hurd vs. Luis Arias, junior middleweights
- Prediction: None
- Background: Attention! This isn’t an actual sporting contest; it’s a glorified sparring session between a great boxer and a YouTube personality who has almost no idea what he’s doing in the ring. As long as you’re aware of all that and you still want to pay the 50 bucks to watch, go for it. Mayweather, 44, returns to the ring for the first time since an exhibition with Japanese kickboxer Tenshin Nasukawa in December 2018. The Hall of Famer will give up six inches in height and around 30 pounds against Paul but that isn’t relevant given the vast gap in ability. Mayweather is expected to toy with Paul until he decides to take him out, if that’s what he chooses to do. Paul deserves some respect. One, he has the courage to step into the ring with an accomplished boxer. And, two, he and brother Jake Paul reportedly are spending time in the gym in an effort to become proficient in boxing. Logan Paul has fought twice, once in an exhibition with fellow YouTuber KSI and again against KSI in a sanctioned bout. Paul lost a split decision in the November 2019 fight. Badou Jack was scheduled to face Jean Pascal in a rematch of their December 2019 bout, which Pascal won by a split decision. However, Pascal was removed from the show after he tested positive for PEDs. It’s not clear whether organizers will be able to find a suitable opponent for Jack.
Also fighting this weekend: Brandon Robinson (15-2, 10 KOs) faces Genc Pllana (8-3-1, 4 KOs) in an eight-round super middleweight bout in Philadelphia (BXNGTV.COM).