Boxing conspiracy theorists think Logan Paul got knocked out and Floyd Mayweather held him up

Floyd Mayweather battled Logan Paul in an exhibition boxing match that turned into snoozefest - with the undefeated star emerging largely unscathed from his battle with the YouTuber upstart, despite the height and weight difference.

Nonetheless, Logan Paul, 26, was lauded for making it through eight rounds with the 44-year-old pro - in a match that had heavily modified rules and could only be decided by knockout, technical knockout or disqualification.

But a clip of the fight is now circulating online that made some fans claim Paul was actually KO’d - and Mayweather held him up to keep the fight going.

In the video - shared widely on Twitter - Mayweather is shown dodging a punch in the final seconds of one of the rounds, before managing to whack Paul in the side of the head with a heavy punch.

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Paul looks stunned then apparently limp, with Mayweather wrapping his arms around his opponent’s body and - in some viewers’ eyes - holding him up.

The video was captioned: “Floyd Mayweather actually knocked out Logan Paul, but held him up during the fight to carry it through 8 rounds.”

But while many fans pointed out that Paul quickly resumed the fight - and therefore it was unlikely to have been a match-ending KO, regardless of any help - others asked whether Mayweather allowed a limp Paul to avoid an embarrassing knockdown.

Others pointed out that Paul appeared to put his weight on his opponent whenever things got too spicy in the ring, which is likely the simpler explanation:

For what it’s worth, we watched it and doubt it was a knockout, but can see why the selective cut of video temporarily had tongues wagging.

Whatever the truth is, Mayweather appeared to have fun, and made an estimated $40m payday from the event at Miami’s Hard Rock stadium.

After the bout, 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.”

Asked what he thought of Logan Paul as an opponent, he said: “A great young fighter. Strong, tough. He’s better than I thought he was. He’s a tough, rough competitor. It was good action. I was surprised by him tonight. A good guy. Even though he doesn’t have much experience, he knew how to use his weight and he knew how to tie me up tonight.”