Highlights? Mayweather Clowns Deji, Fury Confronts Paul In Dubai
Deji #Deji
We knew Floyd Mayweather was going to toy with popular YouTuber Deji Olatunji in their pointless Dubai boxing exhibition. But Mayweather took the hijinx to the next level, fooling around throughout the entire fight before coming in for the kill in the 7th round. The moment he took the fight seriously for more than 5 seconds was the moment the fight was waved off.
Mayweather bounced and danced around the ring, throwing his arms out to the crowd, and spent his time between rounds working pads with his coach. At times he would approach Deji and pepper him with an endless stream of phantom punches as the YouTuber covered up, clueless.
As Deji started to go on the attack in round three, Mayweather slapped his punches down with a laugh. He finished the round off by twirling away from Deji and dancing some more in his corner.
In round four, Floyd Mayweather started throwing a series of borderline low blows, alternating between body shots and punches to the lower area of Deji’s belt. The ref had to warn the boxing GOAT twice — Mayweather dismissed the warnings and waved the ref away.
In round six, Mayweather turned up the pace. Deji could do nothing but cover up and try to clinch to survive the sudden bursts of aggression “Money” was throwing his way. The mood started to turn mean as Mayweather face-washed him on every break. He backed Deji into a corner and unleashed a series of slow but deliberate punches that cut through Deji’s weak defense. They didn’t end until the referee stepped in and waved the fight off.
The ‘fight’ served as nothing more than a platform for Floyd Mayweather to fool around. The best thing you can say about Deji is he didn’t wilt in the face of his obvious inability to hang in the ring. He took his clowning with grim determination, probably worried the whole time that Floyd might turn the volume of his violence higher than a three.
After the fight ended, a complimentary Mayweather showed off a small bruise on his cheek from a Deji punch.
“Deji, you’re a tough competitor, keep up the great work,” he said. “Your brother KSI, he’s a hell of a fighter also, I want him to keep up the great work. Y’all together work as a team, as a force. I’m proud of you guys.”
In the co-main event, Tommy Fury fought last minute replacement Rolly Lambert to what many scored a 58-58 draw in what was a terrible fight. Jake Paul was in the crowd for the fight and viciously heckled the British brother of heavyweight champ Tyson Fury endlessly.
That generated the most entertaining portion of the night, which saw Tommy calling out Paul from the ring and Paul mocking him from outside. John Fury took his shirt off for some reason, and the whole thing devolved into a bunch of yelling and posturing.
This Mayweather fight was just the latest in a string of exhibitions against outclassed opponents, but at least prior bouts featured legitimate professional fighters. So long as Floyd Mayweather continues to cash massive checks doing this kind of thing, they’ll keep happening. We’re not looking forward to seeing how much further this whole experiment goes.