Floyd Mayweather stopped Deji in the sixth round of their exhibition bout in Dubai, at the end of a chaotic and somewhat farcical night.
Having only fought YouTubers before, and winning his first fight in August after three amateur defeats, Deji took to the ring against one of the sport’s greats, as Mayweather continued his run of exhibitions.
The 45-year-old toyed with Deji for much of the first five rounds, spending most of the time arguing with his opponents’ corner. That was particularly the case after Mayweather was warned for a number of low blows, perhaps an irritated response after Deji landed a shot that marked up the American’s eye.
Mayweather, who spent the time in between the early rounds parading around the ring and doing pad work, had his corner work on his eye ahead of the sixth round, while he looked around and saw Deji doing press-ups.
That was perhaps the spark he needed to put an end to what was the ultimate mismatch, even if the YouTuber had a couple of bright moments. Mayweather could have ended it at any second and that moment came in the sixth, as the referee jumped in following a couple of heavy shots.
Speaking after the fight, Deji called out both Justin Bieber and Liam Payne as he vowed to keep boxing.
“I want to keep fighting, 100%,” he said in the ring.
“I wouldn’t mind fighting Justin Bieber. Liam Payne. Anyone who wants it really, I want all the smoke.”
Mayweather paid tribute to Deji, even claiming he was happy to be left with bruising above his eye as the 25-year-old landed a decent shot.
“I couldn’t have done it without my dance partner,” Mayweather said. “Deji, you’re a tough competitor. I’m proud of you, keep up the great work. Your brother KSI is a hell of a fighter too, I want him to keep up the great work.
“I’m glad that he landed a good shot. This is a part of fighting, of entertainment. These people want to see entertainment and fun and that’s what we both gave them tonight. You’re a hell of a fighter.”
THE SHIRT IS OFF. JOHN FURY GOES AFTER JAKE PAUL 😱
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Watch #MayweatherDeji live on DAZN PPV in the US, CA, UK, Ire, Aus, NZ and Japan.
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The crowd were justifiably less impressed with what they see, in the ring at least, when Tommy Fury was in action earlier in the night.
He was up against a late change of opponent, after the Brit weighed in almost seven pounds over the 175lbs mark on Saturday. Fury claimed he had in fact made weight but had signed a contract for a different limit, though Paul Bamba refused to accept that and the bout fell through.
Instead it was Fury and Rolly Lambert seeing out six turgid rounds of boxing in their exhibition, barely a punch thrown in anger with the pair seemingly more interested in dancing and showboating, despite the chorus of boos from the crowd.
Jake Paul was on commentary and spent much of the fight heckling his long-time rival, with a fight between the pair having already twice broken down. It boiled over following the fight as Fury’s father, John, ripped off his shirt and began screaming at Paul, as he proclaimed himself “the king of the bareknuckle”.
Paul continued to mock the pair, resisting their demands for him to enter the ring, before security had to stop Tommy lunging at the American in an episode that entertained the crowd more than anything they saw in the ring.
