Say what you will about Sunday's boxing exhibition between retired pound-for-pound king Floyd Mayweather and YouTube star Logan Paul but one fact remains indisputable: the eight-round bout has firmly caught the attention of the casual sports and pop culture worlds.
It may not be the hardcore fight fan's preferred cup of tea, of course, which has led to many using descriptors such as carnival and circus to describe the build. Conversely, others have praised the fight's spectacle nature by calling it the pro wrestling of boxing, which may be the most apt description at the end of the day.
Without question, everything that happens after the 44-year-old Mayweather (50-0, 27 KOs) touches gloves with Paul (0-1), 26, inside the ring (Showtime PPV, 8 p.m. ET) to start their fight will be very real, as will the consequences -- both physically and to their respective reputations -- based upon the outcome of this fight, dubbed "Bragging Rights."
But it's hard to ignore just how "pro wrestling" the build-up to the fight has felt from the standpoint of unpredictability -- including Logan's brother Jake Paul stealing Mayweather's hat at their May 6 press conference to ignite a mini-brawl. The trash talk between them has also run the full gamut of goofy to serious while laced with an overall "fun factor" that casuals have flocked to like cat nip and boxing's old guard has been resistant to accept.
If you ever wondered where the intersection between pro wrestling and boxing was located, you may want to drop a pin inside Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, Florida, this weekend for a closer look.
So with that in mind, there's a bit of expectation and apprehension surrounding what happens next after this weekend's bout. Like, immediately next. Will Jake Paul come out from under the ring to attack Mayweather and kick off a build to their own fight (provided Jake gets past Tyron Woodley in August in his own Showtime PPV debut)? Or can either Paul brother pull off their own respective goal of drawing former two-division UFC champion Conor McGregor back towards the sweet science?
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Or how about something even more taboo and pro wrestling? What are the odds that both Paul brothers aren't on a collision course to one day face each other?
Yes, I can feel the breeze of your swift eye roll from here. But it's a topic Logan and the 24-year-old Jake (3-0, 3 KOs) get asked about more than you might think.
"Everyone asks this question," Logan Paul told CBS Sports last week. "I really do believe part of the reason I was put on this earth was to entertain and to put on a show to alleviate. I think me fighting Jake would create a spectacle that has never been done and would probably never be done again. That excites me."
Wladimir and Vitali Klitschko, the Ukrainian brothers who dominated boxing's heavyweight division for more than a decade, famously promised their mother that they would never fight. But the idea of a tussle between siblings came to fruition in the sport of MMA in recent years.
Former UFC stars and adopted brothers, Ken and Frank Shamrock, flirted with the idea late in their careers despite a large size difference but never went through with it. Carlos Fodor and his adopted brother, Ben "Phoenix Jones" Fodor, did agree to do it under the World Series of Fighting banner in 2016, but it wasn't high profile enough to make a big splash across the headlines and the fight, which Carlos won by decision, went on to drive an even deeper wedge between the two.
"Everyone has been asking us this our whole time in this sport. I don't know," Jake Paul told CBS Sports. "One day we are like, 'Yeah, we should do it.' And then the next day we are like, 'No, this is a stupid idea.' But hey, we are here to make history so you never know what might happen."
For the record, Jake's reticence is shared by just about everyone else in his family -- including his brother -- despite both of them realizing how big of a spectacle the event could be.
"I'm on the fence as well. My parents would f---ing kill us. They don't want that," Logan Paul said. "My dad is a hard ass from Ohio but he still don't want that. My mom doesn't want it, my friends don't want it. No one wants it that's close to us. We have never sparred. I think I'm better, he thinks he's better. We have different coaches and different styles.
"I don't know, I don't know! Give us three years to hone these skills and let's find out who is better, once and for Paul."
The differences between the brothers are as stark as what makes them similar. Asked to explain that, Logan could only laugh and respond, "How much time you got?"
Nicknamed the "Problem Child," Jake is covered in tattoos and clearly the much more impulsive of the two. He has thrown himself into the sport of boxing with reckless abandon and wants to be taken seriously for his efforts in doing so. Older brother Logan, while more calm and jovial on the surface, seems to contrast that by making a joke of just about everything, including his chances of defeating Mayweather.
"We are yin and yang. I'm sure he would say the same thing. We are the exact same and the exact opposite," Logan Paul said. "We could not be more alike and could not be more different. We are brothers to the T, white and black. He is the 'Problem Child' and I'm obviously an angel, for sure. I love the kid. He's the side of me that I am not."
The only thing that is assured about Sunday's fight from the standpoint of Jake's role is that despite some early reported pushback from the Mayweather camp, he will be allowed inside the stadium for the fight despite the whole "Gotcha Hat" episode.
"I will be there. Floyd, I think, got over his little bitch fit," Jake Paul said. "I [have been] helping [Logan] in training camp, I'm helping him with his strength and conditioning, his mindset, meditation, all that good stuff. I will be there rooting for him in the front row. I think if anyone in the world can do it, it's Logan Paul."
Regardless of what happens in Sunday's outcome, Logan Paul swears he will be back inside the ring again and that a potential loss won't slow the momentum of the Paul brothers making their disruptive move into the sport.
"Do losses matter?," Logan Paul said. "Conor McGregor just got his f---ing ass beat and got meme'd pretty bad. It has been loss, loss, loss, loss. He's also the highest paid athlete in the world. I don't know. Can you put on a show? Do people want to come and watch you fight? Sheesh."
