By Allan Fox: Looking all of 46 years old, Floyd Mayweather Jr outboxed his hand-picked opponent, former MMA fighter Aaron Chalmers, through their eight-round exhibition match on Saturday night in front of a near-empty O2 Arena in London, England.
There was no winner at the end because the fight was an exhibition match, and Floyd was taking it easy on Chalmers and not trying to bang him out.
Mayweather vs Chalmers shambles as card delayed with O2 Arena almost EMPTY and thousands of tickets left unsold
Some boxing fans were even offered 20 per cent discounts as promoters desperately attempted to offload tickets
Via @DailyMirror pic.twitter.com/sOtygaf5w3
— The Last Round (@thelastround12) February 25, 2023
One got the sense that Mayweather could have easily knocked Chalmer out instantly if he’d wanted to, but he chose instead to fight at hand speed.
It’s too bad that Mayweather waited until he was old before fighting in the UK because if he’d fought there when he was younger, he likely would have sold out the 90,000-seat Wembley Stadium.
O2 near empty for Mayweather-Chalmers
Instead, Floyd would be lucky if there were 3,000 fans tonight at the 12,500-seat Wembley Arena. The top tier of the arena was as reportedly closed, and even with that, still tons of empty seats on the lower level. Ticket prices had reportedly been slashed in a desperate attempt to try and fill the arena, yet it failed to help.
Even if Mayweather had given away tickets to fans, he likely still would have been fighting Chalmers in front of an empty arena because this isn’t the type of fight that people were willing to sacrifice their Saturday evening.
Floyd danced around, playing to the audience and toying with Chalmers, who looked timid, afraid to throw anything for fear of being countered. Mayweather showed he still has superb skills, but his hand speed is nowhere near the same.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zHGuXr1METk
In between rounds, Mayweather sat on the top rope in his corner for some reason. It was odd that Floyd intentionally tried to be casual about his exhibition. Hence, the dancing, showboating, making fun of his opponent, and not taking it seriously.
Was Mayweather because he was embarrassed at how slow he looked and his reflexes are badly diminished?
Mayweather’s past exhibition bouts
- Logan Paul
- Deji
- Tenshin Nasukawa
- Don Moore
- Mikuru Asakura
For the handful of fans in attendance, they couldn’t have been happy watching Mayweather play around, given that they’d paid their hard-earned money to see him perform and not make a clown of himself.
Even with the lighting targeted only at the fans in the audience, one could still see all the empty seats. It was shocking how empty the place was, which is a clear sign that fans weren’t interested in Mayweather’s exhibition.
Fans are not interested in watching Floyd beat up on non-boxers at this point, and the empty arena tonight was a sign that he’s getting diminishing returns for his exhibition hustle.
It was a virtual ghost town as fans failed to flock to see former boxing star Mayweather in action in his sixth exhibition match since retiring in 2017.
For a former star like Mayweather, who was accustomed to fighting in front of his crowds during most of his entire career, it had to have been a reality check.
“I would like to thank all the fans in the UK. The fans are unbelievable,” Mayweather said afterward. “This guy is tough as nails; we had a chance to come together. I came to entertain the people, and I’m glad I came.”
“I have a lot of experience. He has to continue to work hard and believe in himself. He’s got a tough chin – anything is possible.”
Mayweather hinted afterward that this might be his last exhibition match, but obviously, that’s hard to believe. If someone offers Mayweather a bunch of money to fight in an exhibition match in a foreign country, he’ll likely jump at the chance, even though his net worth is estimated at $450 million, according to Celebrity Net Worth.
