Floyd Mayweather has claimed he was paid $1million just to take a phone call discussing his exhibition bout with YouTube star Deji.
The legendary 50-0 boxer has been competing in exhibition matches around the world since retiring from the professional game in 2017 with a perfect record. And his next rival will be British social media influencer Deji, whom he faces in his third bout of the year at the Coca-Cola Arena in Dubai on November 12.
And he insists that to even begin negotiations for the match-up, which surprised fans when it was leaked online, cost promoters Global Titans seven-figures. Mayweather could hardly keep a straight face in Las Vegas yesterday when he went head-to-head with the social media star for the first time, and told the story of how he ended up facing Deji.
"They reached out to me and said 'Floyd, we'd like you in Dubai again'," Mayweather explained to FightHype. "The other one was supposed to be in Dubai and it got moved to Abu Dhabi, but they want me back in the UAE. I said 'let's make it happen,' but I also told them I won't get on the phone unless I know the numbers, then we can talk.
"They said, 'We'll get you on the phone' and they wired me $1m. So I got on the phone ASAP and said 'what's going on?' They said they wanted me to do [an exhibition] with a YouTuber, I said, 'Yo, let's make it happen'. We're doing these exhibitions and it doesn't matter what happens, I can get knocked out and I'm still 50-0! I did what I had to do when it really counted, it don't count now."
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Mayweather and Deji will head to London next month for a press conference before jetting into Dubai for the exhibition bout. It will be the fifth scoreless exhibition that the American has taken part in since his retirement, and Deji's fifth fight ever.
The YouTube star lost his third consecutive fight as recently as March when he was beaten by Alex Wassabi in a tough split decision. But he looked a changed man against Yusef 'Fousey' Erakat on his brother KSI's undercard in August, stopping the American within three rounds.
"I have no words, really," Deji said of getting in the ring with Mayweather. "This is amazing, I'm truly blessed. I want to give thanks to God because honestly if it wasn't for him I wouldn't even be here, my team as well. Literally, this is surreal, all of this. I've seen this place on TV and now I'm here next to the champ, so I'm truly blessed. It's amazing, this is history, isn't it. That's all I can really say. I'm amazed."
