Logan Paul has claimed that he turned down a fight with Manny Pacquiao that was tabled after his exhibition bout with Floyd Mayweather.
The YouTuber-turned-boxer impressed at times as he went the distance in an eight-round exhibition with Mayweather, who is widely considered to be one of the greatest fighters of all time. The boxing legend dominated the contest completely in June of last year, but couldn't overcome the 35lb weight difference as Paul stifled him and managed to leave without a winner being declared.
Paul has yet to return to the boxing ring since that night at the Hard Rock Stadium in Miami, although he insists that he will be back in the ring on the same card as his pal KSI in January. In the meantime, the American has taken to the WWE ring, where he will compete for the world title after just two matches on November 5 in Saudi Arabia.
He claims that he may fight someone who isn't a YouTuber or a legitimate boxer in his comeback, with controversial kick-boxer Andrew Tate the current leading candidate in the eyes of many. And when Fight Hub TV jokingly suggested Manny Pacquiao as a potential opponent, Paul indicated that it was once a possibility.
"What boxer can sell like that?" Paul asked reporter Macos Villegas in response to a question about his next opponent, who suggested Pacquiao. "It was on the table," Paul replied much to Villegas' surprise.
He then added: "On the table, like, 'do you want this fight?' I said 'no', because I will not be the guy that just fights retired boxers, I did that once, now I'm going to fight a wrestler in his prime, let's see what happens."
Paul met with Pacquiao at the famous Wild Card gym in Los Angeles during the aftermath of his bout with Mayweather, declaring that he didn't fancy getting in the ring with the legend. At the time, Pacquiao was deep in training camp for a bout with Errol Spence Jr, which ultimately became Yordenis Ugas when Spence was injured.
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"He's looking sharp," Paul said at the time during an interview just after the meeting. "Someone made a comment when we were watching, they said 'man, imagine Manny in his prime'. I said 'he does look like he's in his prime, he looks sharp... He doesn't look 42."
Pacquiao's coach Freddie Roach then told the Betway Insider US blog : "We had fun with Logan when he visited. He seems like a good guy. After watching Manny work out, he said he was glad he fought Floyd instead of Manny, we liked hearing that! I thought Logan did well against Floyd.”
The boxer himself took to Instagram to share a picture of the pair after the training session with the caption: "Honoured to have Logan Paul come by Wild Card Boxing today. After watching me work out he said he was glad he fought Mayweather instead of me!"
