Logan Paul lasted the distance with Floyd Mayweather in their exhibition bout, surviving a late onslaught to see out the eight rounds.
Without a knockout, there was no winner declared though Mayweather was clearly on top in the majority of rounds shared.
And afterwards the 50-0 boxing legend admitted he was surprised by what Paul brought to the ring.
He said: “I had fun, you’ve got to realise I’m not 21 anymore but it’s good to move around with these young guys, test my skills just to have some fun.
“Great young fighter, strong, tough, he’s better than I thought he was. As far as with the big guys, the heavyweights, it’s going to be kind of hard.
“But he’s a tough, rough competitor, it was good action, had fun, I was surprised by him tonight.”
The first two rounds were cagey as Mayweather, 44, sized up his opponent who had a six inch height advantage.
Paul, 26, started confidently, throwing a barrage of punches which failed to trouble his opponent.
By the third round Mayweather started to dominate and went for a stoppage late on but a resilient Paul was able to nullify the attacks coming his way as he survived being in the same ring with one of the greatest of all time.
As the bell sounded, a clearly exhausted Paul walked away on his feet and technically having not been beaten.
He said afterwards: “S*** man, I don’t want anyone to tell me anything is impossible ever again.
“The fact that I’m in here with one of the greatest boxers of all time proves the odds can be beaten.
“I’m the Maverick, I go right when they go left, I’m the unorthodox one, I’m the independent one and everyone has it in them.
“Everyone can beat the odds and do great things in life and I want everyone to know that and that’s what I’m here to say.
“Floyd Mayweather, it was an honour, I hate being a d*** and I love you guys.
“I love all you guys, this is one of the greatest moments of my life, I feel great.”
Mayweather, who hung up his gloves professionally in 2017 after beating ex-UFC champion Conor McGregor, 32, refused to rule out fighting again.
He said: “We don’t know what the future holds, I’ll talk with my team and see where we go from here.
“You’ve got to realise, I’ve been in this sport 25 years and I understand I’m not 21, I’m not 25 but I had fun.”
