Floyd Mayweather Jr continued the storied crossover between boxing and wrestling in 2008 when he mixed it up with WWE’s Paul “The Big Show” Wight in a captivating feud that once again proved the undefeated boxer’s pay-per-view pull, but while stories have circulated about Mayweather genuinely breaking Wight’s nose, the 50-0 fighter who won 15 boxing titles has seldom spoke about the incident. So, when M&F sat down with “Money” Mayweather recently, in order get his tips for aspiring athletes, we couldn’t resist revisiting that iconic moment to get some clarification more than fifteen years on.
“Now, what’s crazy is; when I used to watch wrestling with my grandmother as a kid, my dad used to always say ‘Cut that off, wrestling is fake,’” said Mayweather in one of his only interviews on the subject, with Larry King almost twelve years ago. “So, when I got involved with the WWE, it was like ‘You and Big Show gonna have a match.’ I said, ‘What do you mean?’ They said, ‘Y’all can fight.’ I said, ‘What do you mean fight, isn’t it for fake?’ They’re saying no. ‘You swing, y’all fight for real. I’m like, ‘I thought wrestling was fake,’” responded a confused Mayweather at the time.
The specific fight that the undefeated boxer is talking about happened on February 17, 2008, in order to set up an actual match between the two athletes just a few weeks later at WrestleMania 24. The storyline called for Mayweather to rush to the ring in order to save the popular grappler Rey Mysterio, who was being attacked by the seven-foot-tall Wight. As Mayweather and the giant finally came face to face, some trash talking ensued before Wight got to one knee in order to mock the boxer’s height. Mayweather used that opportunity to put his money where his mouth was, however, and rained a combination of blows straight into The Big Show’s face. “So, when I punched him in the face, you know, I broke his nose,” Mayweather told Larry King. “And I was like, ‘Ah, man.’” It was certainly an iconic moment that served to set up a highly anticipated boxer versus wrestler match, following in the footsteps of the historical bout between Muhammad Ali and Antonio Inoki . And, the WrestleMania match itself was highly entertaining. Mayweather continued his undefeated streak after nailing Wight with a set of brass knuckles before a red hot crowd of almost 75,000 in Orlando, Florida.
Did Floyd Mayweather Genuinely Break Paul “The Big Show” Wight’s Nose?
With Mayweather returning to his boxing career, he seldom spoken of his shocking debut in WWE, and fans have long debated whether or not the broken nose incident was merely special effects in the name of sports entertainment. This notion has been quashed several times by Wight himself, however. In a more recent interview with talkSPORT, The Big Show confirmed that he was on board with the idea of making their original scuffle appear as real as possible by having Mayweather punch him legitimately. But there was a warning. “I told [Floyd], ‘Hey when you do this, run, because I’m half-nuts so if I get my hands on you…’” With Mayweather being told by WWE officials land Paul Wight himself to make it look good, Mayweather delivered big time on the night.
“I knew we had something special then!” said Wight, who was clearly busted open during the incident. Still, those who still doubt the authenticity of Mayweather’s punches point to the fact that it has mostly been the pro wrestling side that has added fuel to the story. To that end, M&F were excited to get some clarification from the boxer himself. “That really happened,” he told us. No doubt, the swift combination of shots employed by one of the greatest boxers of all time only served to make the moment more scintillating. “It wasn’t planned,” he explained. “But once I stepped in the ring, I brought the same intensity I always do.”
Mayweather’s time in WWE is looked at fondly by pro wrestling fans, and we was reportedly paid a cool 20 million dollars for his handy work. “WWE was a different kind of challenge, but it was a great time,” he told M&F. “The fans, the showmanship—it was electric. I respect the athletes in that world, and I was happy to give the crowd a moment they’d never forget.” WWE is now streaming on Netflix while Mayweather continues to mentor the next generation of boxers and has recently launched a new line of supplements.
