When the bell rings, retired professional boxer Floyd Mayweather Jr. gets paid for his exhibition matches — and apparently when his phone rings, too.
In 2022, Mayweather accepted a call from promoters to discuss a potential fight with YouTuber Deji Olatunji. The bout took place on Nov. 13, 2022, in Dubai, where Mayweather won by TKO in the sixth round.
One Expensive Phone Call
Mayweather would claim he was paid $1 million just to take the initial phone call.
“A lot of times these guys have to focus on who I am,” Mayweather said in an In an interview with Ben’s FightHype in October 2022. “I made my mark in the sport of boxing. ‘Hey yo, we got this guy’ … they pay, I’ll play.”
The two-year-old interview has recently resurfaced in various online sports outlets.
When asked if Mayweather is exclusively fighting YouTube personalities after fighting Logan Paul and then Deji, “I’m not going to say that, but they reached out to me, saying, ‘Floyd, we would like you in Dubai, again…’ I say, let’s make it happen. They got on the phone and said, and I said, ‘I’m not getting on the phone unless we know the numbers, so we can talk.’”
“They said, ‘We will get you on the phone.’ They wired me a million dollars. They wired me a million dollars, and I got on the phone asap.”
Mayweather retired professionally with a 50-0 record, and his last official fight was in August 2017 against Conor McGregor, according to Bleacher Report.
Over his two-decade career, Mayweather earned 15 major world championships and was a three-time recipient of the Sugar Ray Robinson Award, given by the Boxing Writers Association of America for Fighter of the Year.
His biggest achievement, however, may be his status as one of the wealthiest boxers in history, solidifying his legacy both in and outside the ring.
The fight with Deji was much more amateur, with Mayweather dominating and controlling the fight, ending it with ease in the sixth round. But amateur or not, it was a money-maker for Mayweather, who reportedly raked in millions from the Pay-Per-View deal tied to the match.
While Mayweather claims to have gotten a million dollars upfront, the amount has not been verified.
Mayweather sees to love to ake money, but he also likes to spend it, as evidenced by the high-dollar purchases he likes to flaunt. A million dollars is hardly a concern for Mayweather, who often sports jewelry worth that much or more at major events.
As Finurah previously reported, at the most recent Super Bowl, for instance, he wore a Cuban link chain valued at $1 million.
Made of white gold, the piece is adorned with 8,500 diamonds totaling 300 carats, spelling out “TMT” for his brand, The Money Team. Flaunting such lavish jewelry has become part of Mayweather’s signature style, especially at high-profile events like NBA games.
