Floyd Mayweather has dominated in his exhibition fight with Geordie Shore star Aaron Chalmers — but the boxing icon is still walking away with a black eye.
The undefeated fighter returned to the ring on Sunday morning (AEDT) – but nobody seemed to care, based on the embarrassingly empty stadium.
Mayweather had been widely slammed for his gimmick bout and it blew up in his face as he walked to the ring to face Chalmers.
The Sun reports the 20,000-seat 02 Arena in London was a ghost town just minutes before the 46-year-old’s fight.
Watch undefeated Aussie superstar Tim Tszyu return to the ring for his biggest fight yet versus USA’s former world champion Tony Harrison. Order on Main Event or Kayo sports >
In farcical scenes, the undercard did not begin for more than an hour after its scheduled start time of 6am (AEDT). Mayweather’s fight was also significantly delayed.
Mayweather controlled the fight and was showboating during rounds.
Mayweather showed he still has some speed in his hands, but Chalmers was still smiling in the final round as the fight went the full eight rounds.
While most combat sport experts called the fight 80-72 in Mayweather’s favour, there was no winner recorded because it was an exhibition fight.
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Fans on Twitter called it a “shambles”.
The commentators used to host the TV broadcast were not even aware the fight was an eight-round fight with experts telling the audience the fight was over after six rounds.
The Sun’s Sunni Upal wrote from inside the venue that fans haven’t turned up. The Mirror reported fans have “boycotted” the fight.
“The top tier is completely covered in black tarp and the concourses have zero fans in,” Upal reports.
“Pretty embarrassing this for Floyd. There’s nobody here.
“Fans were offered a 20 per cent discount on tickets for tonight’s event. Organisers have been tight-lipped on ticket sales but they’ve still been on sale leading up to the event.”
Ring veteran Mayweather looked far too strong for a man in just his second ever boxing fight.
Mayweather did his best to appeal to his UK fans in his first fight on British soil.
He even wore the Union Jack on his shorts and had blue gloves with red trim to match.
Floyd spent the large part of the opening rounds grinning at his opponent rather than boxing.
He picked his shots carefully and methodically, even if a little too tentative for the crowd’s liking.
Mayweather has gotten used to travelling the world for exhibition fights since his legendary boxing career ended.
He likely isn’t done in the ring and could take on Irish MMA superstar Conor McGregor again.
But London might not be on the cards anytime soon given the fans’ no show.
Mayweather said: “I would like to thank all the fans in the UK. The United Kingdom is unbelievable – the UK is becoming the Mecca of boxing.
“Me and Aaron Chalmers had a chance to come together and we had fun for eight rounds.
“If the UK fans want me to come back, I’m coming back.”
The undercard finally got underway with adult entertainer and MMA fighter Sammy-Jo Luxton fighting Hayley Barraclough.
Mayweather finished his professional record following his win over Conor McGregor in 2017.
But he is no stranger to exhibition fights since then, battling the likes of YouTuber-turned-WWE star Logan Paul and kickboxing legend Tenshin Nasukawa.
Mayweather’s latest win came against KSI’s brother Deji in November.