One day removed from his exhibition bout with Floyd Mayweather, social media star Logan Paul has responded to rumors that he was briefly knocked out early into the pay-per-view Showtime fight.
After months of build-up, Mayweather and Paul finally met inside the ring on June 6. While no official winner was announced, Paul survived all eight rounds against one of boxing’s most accomplished figures.
Obviously, the narrative has continued online following the bout. Paul argued that Mayweather’s age was showing but Mayweather’s promoter countered to say that he wasn’t taking the fight seriously. All the while, one particular focal point has gained more traction than anything else:
Was Paul briefly knocked out by a stiff shot from Mayweather?
Many viewers began to speculate, and many pointed out how Mayweather was allegedly holding Paul up to prolong the fight. Hours after the fact and Logan Paul himself has now responded to the growing internet conspiracy.
Get your tinfoil hats out everyone.
The latest conspiracy is that Floyd KO’d Logan but held him up to make sure it went the distance.pic.twitter.com/x6VNjqlNKX
— Dexerto (@Dexerto) June 7, 2021
“Morning after the fight, not too shabby for fighting the best,” he said in a June 7 Instagram story, showing off his minor bruises. “I’m seeing this narrative going around,” he addressed, discussing the KO speculation head-on.
Subscribe to our newsletter for the latest updates on Esports, Gaming and more.
“There’s one part in the fight where Floyd punched me and I kind of leaned on him a little bit. It looks like I kind of went limp. People are trying to spin it and say that he knocked me out and caught me, kept me up to keep the fight going.”
For those that thought he was genuinely out on his feet, Paul completely shot down the false claim. “Shut the f*** up,” he said. Just shut the f*** up. Stop trying to discredit what happened last night.” While he was definitely caught with some heavy shots in the 24-minute contest, at no stage was Paul ever “rocked”.
The YouTuber continued: “Make no mistake, he got a lot of good punches in. I got f***ed up with a couple of shots. But no, I never got knocked out.”
The biggest takeaway for Paul is that he survived. Eight rounds in the ring with boxing’s most decorated athlete and Paul was able to endure. “He tried to take me out and he couldn’t,” Paul laughed. “It was great.”
There’s no telling what might be next for the YouTuber. Whoever his next opponent may be, it’s sure to generate plenty of buzz.