Mayweather vs Paul results and highlights: Chad Johnson dropped but finishes exhibition against Brian Maxwell

Former NFL star wide receiver Chad Johnson made his boxing debut tonight, meeting Brian Maxwell in a four-round exhibition to kick off the Mayweather vs Paul pay-per-view in Miami.

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Being under exhibition rules, there was no winner announced, but Maxwell did drop Johnson in the fourth and final round, pretty blatantly letting the 43-year-old football player survive the last 30 seconds or so of the bout, which had two-minute rounds.

Johnson flashed some athleticism through the first three rounds, but was pretty clearly gassed after those rounds, too. Maxwell didn’t show a whole lot of effort in general, but they weren’t throwing phantom punches in there or anything. It became fairly clear in the fourth round that if Maxwell had really wanted to “win” this fight — by virtue of knocking Johnson out — he probably could have.

But you could also see the world class athleticism of even a 43-year-old Johnson, just the way he was able to move around and glide. Compared to the average novice boxer you’ll see, he was on a different level with that.

“Ask the world who Brian Maxwell is now? Brian Maxwell is here!” Maxwell said to a cavernous, empty arena, and added a thanks to Johnson.

“I had fun,” Johnson said. “My life has always been about taking chances, doing crazy stuff, and this is one off my bucket list. For people that are content, scared to fail, get out there and live, man. Don’t be scared to fail, it’s OK!”

“I don’t box. I fight, but it ain’t in the ring,” Johnson added. “So of course I was a little sloppy. I had fun. I think I’m ready for McGregor!”