'I'll kill you': Floyd Mayweather and Jake Paul brawl before bout

A brawl erupted following the first face-off between boxer Floyd Mayweather and YouTube star Logan Paul, after the latter's brother Jake Paul taunted Mayweather and stole his hat.

Mayweather and Logan Paul exchanged insults when they faced off on stage at Miami's Hard Rock Stadium, but things took a turn for the worse when the boxing legend was later confronted by the younger Paul brother.

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Jake Paul, who recently knocked out former UFC fighter Ben Askren in a lucrative pay per view bout, confronted Mayweather, taunting him before grabbing his hat and running.

Mayweather chased down the Paul brothers and punches appeared to be thrown in a melee involving a scrum of security staff. Mayweather unleashed an expletive-laden tirade during the incident.

“Let's make it happen, yes sir, don't be calling Al Haymon [Mayweather’s advisor], for one night, got your hat,” Jake Paul could be heard saying after coming head-to-head with the undefeated boxer.

Paul then appeared to get away from Mayweather, who could be seen on his Instagram live stream searching for the brother of Logan, shouting: "Where’s that mother f*****? When I catch you, I’m going to kill you. I'll f*** you up, mother f*****, I’ll kill you.”

Mayweather and Logan Paul are due to fight on June 6, with the exhibition fight Mayweather's first since a 2018 exhibition in Japan.

After posing on stage with Logan, Mayweather insisted to him it was not a “fight” and that he guaranteed a knockout.

“I’m 100 per cent sure it’s going to be a knockout,” Mayweather said.

“It’s not really a fight for me. It is to him. For me, it’s just going out and doing what I do. This is all about entertainment. This is the biggest event since Covid hit.

“It’s a fight for him. The last time I went out to perform in Japan, I know it was only two minutes, but hopefully it’ll be a little bit longer.

“He’s a fake fighter, I’m a real fighter. It’s going to be fun. On my worst day I’m still going to be Floyd Mayweather and do what I do.”

Logan Paul, Floyd Mayweather face off before June exhibition

Thursday's event gave no further information about specifics of the fight such as number of rounds or what size gloves would be used.

Paul, 26, first ventured into white-collar boxing in a bout with British YouTuber KSI in 2018 that reportedly generated 1.3 million pay per view buys worldwide, before a rematch in 2019 in Los Angeles.

Insults had already been traded in an earlier confrontation, with Logan Paul taunting Mayweather by referencing his 2011 domestic violence case.

Mayweather served two months of a three-month sentence after attacking an ex-girlfriend.

Mayweather, meanwhile, claimed he would fight - and beat - both Paul brothers on the same night before the event erupted into violence.

Before the brawl, Logan Paul told AFP he firmly believed he could do what no boxer had ever done before and beat Mayweather.

"After this fight I don't want anyone to tell me something is impossible," Paul said.

"I am representing the guy who was counted out, the guy who believed in himself so much that his unrelenting belief in himself propelled him to success. That's me.

"I don't just think I can beat him. I know I can beat him."

With Yahoo Sports US/AFP

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