Celebrities are apparently desperate to get tickets for Floyd Mayweather and Logan Paul's boxing exhibition

• Floyd Mayweather and Logan Paul take part in a boxing exhibition on June 6 in Miami on Showtime.
• According to Showtime boss Stephen Espinoza, celebrities are desperate for tickets to the fight.
• "I've never experienced so many celebrities reaching out so far in advance," he told Insider.

Some of boxing's most powerful figures believe they have a monster hit on their hands when Floyd Mayweather and Logan Paul take part in a crossover exhibition June 6 at the Hard Rock Stadium in Miami.

The event brings together Mayweather, the most successful pay-per-view fighter of all time, and Paul, a controversial YouTube creator with an army of millions of subscribers across multiple platforms.

The exhibition, organized by the Las Vegas-based fight firm Mayweather Promotions, will be broadcast on the premium network Showtime Sports at a $49.99 price point.

Mayweather has been involved in four of the top-five best-selling combat sports events of all time, including the No.1 - a long-awaited welterweight fight against Manny Pacquiao that sold to 4.6 million homes.

And Stephen Espinoza, president of Showtime Sports, told Insider recently that there has been gossip amongst executives behind the scenes regarding the number of pay-per-view sales this event will generate.

According to Espinoza, there has been more celebrity interest in the boxer's exhibition with Paul, than there was for his high-stakes matches against Conor McGregor, Saul "Canelo" Alvarez, and Pacquiao - all fights that he broadcast on Showtime.

"The number of celebrities that reached out and asked for tickets is always an indication of a hot fight," the 51-year-old told us.

"I've never experienced so many celebrities reaching out so far in advance," he said.

"Usually you get a celebrity ticket request from athletes or Hollywood types on fight week, when everyone's talking about it and you get the urge to go. But celebrities don't tend to ask for tickets three or four weeks out, and I got many of those requests."

Espinoza is not the only one whose phone is blowing up with celebrity requests as Leonard Ellerbe, the CEO of Mayweather Promotions, is seemingly also courting a lot of attention because of this bout.

Earlier this month, when this reporter tweeted about the level of interest in the fight on social media, Ellerbe quote-tweeted the post with the words: "Big facts."

'There's something about this event'

Mayweather retired from professional boxing in 2017 after beating his 50th and final opponent, Conor McGregor, in a landmark crossover event that generated a nine-figure payday for himself.

He returned to the ring in the following year for an unofficial bout in which he floored the promising kickboxer Tenshin Nasukawa three times in a one-round blowout, making the Japanese fighter cry.

The 44-year-old reportedly banked $9 million for the show, and has teased other exhibitions in the years since. Ultimately he waited for the right opportunity. That opportunity is Logan Paul - an internet sensation.

Mayweather Promotions held a pre-fight press event to promote the bout earlier in the month. There, Mayweather exchanged verbal barbs with Paul on stage and spoke to reporters in a huddle after the conference.

Paul's younger brother Jake Paul then encroached into Mayweather's personal space, shouted in his face, and then stole his hat.

But before he could properly run away, Mayweather lunged after him and, with his hulking security guards in tow, threw punches at Jake, who kept screaming: "Gotcha hat," to anyone who would listen.

To protect Jake, one of his handlers shoved him into a locked bathroom while Mayweather stormed up and down the hallways screaming: "I'll kill that mother f---er."

Reacting to this, Espinoza said: "I'm not one of the many legions of Paul fans, or one of their YouTube subscribers. It's not that I don't respect what they've achieved - I'm just way too old. I didn't grow up spending time on YouTube.

"But I've seen their numbers, I understand their appeal, and what I experienced in the aftermath of that press event was something that I didn't logically expect."

Espinoza told us that it's not just the celebrity interest that suggests the fight will be a big one, but also that he is hearing about it from his friends, friends of friends, and acquaintances.

"People who have never expressed interest in boxing, or even a Mayweather ticket, have reached out to say, 'I have to be at this event.'

"So, there is something about this match-up, or the combinations of personalities, or Logan Paul's appeal, that has touched the core popular culture in a way that intrigues people who weren't even intrigued by Mayweather vs. McGregor or Mayweather vs. Pacquiao.

"That's a different kind of appeal than we've ever seen before."

Mayweather is in unfamiliar territory when it comes to fans

Mayweather may well be in unfamiliar territory heading into the exhibition, according to Espinoza, who told us through much of Mayweather's career, people would tune into his fights by the million on the off-chance that it was the fight that he finally lost.

Mayweather never did lose, though. And now the balance of support may have swung in his favor as he's sharing the ring with someone who many want to see taught a lesson.

"It's funny because we've always known that a good chunk of the audience that tunes in to Mayweather fights is rooting against him, and they don't want to miss the fight in which Mayweather finally loses," Espinoza said.

"Was it going to be 'Canelo' who did it, or Pacquiao who did it - it was always going to be: 'This is the one who is going to beat him.' But now the shoe is completely on the other foot.

"There are plenty of people who are rooting outwardly [against Paul]. Other celebrities like [actor] Michael Rapaport is all over TMZ expressing what I've heard from many people. 'This is too much, Floyd needs to teach him a lesson.' I think that is without question part of the appeal here."

Espinoza added: "There are also people who have been rooting against Floyd his entire career, disappointed he retired undefeated, and so, for them, this would be a great consolation prize if they saw him lose an exhibition long after he retired - that would be almost as good."

This could be yet another Mayweather success story

Because of the name-value Mayweather brings, the popularity of Logan Paul online, and the havoc Jack Paul wreaked earlier this month, this event could mark another success in Mayweather's ongoing career in sports and sports entertainment.

Even Espinoza said that he has revised his personal opinion for the amount of pay-per-view sales he expects the exhibition to generate. "I definitely have increased my personal estimates," he said, without giving a specific figure.

"We're like any other office. There's water cooler talk: 'What do you think it will do?' And there are more formal discussions, too."

Espinoza said the pre-fight chaos brought the event into the mainstream consciousness, and provided a promotional angle to build off. But it wasn't just that.

"It reverberated so far and so wide that it really provided a good estimate of their fanbases and reach. There are a lot more people who care about this than I initially thought."

It is unfamiliar territory for Showtime, too, which prides itself on broadcasting elite combat sports competitions through its partnerships with Premier Boxing Champions and its founder Al Haymon, and Bellator MMA with its CEO Scott Coker.

Showbiz boxing, which pulls the sport's legends out of retirement, and pushes icons from influencing culture into the limelight, is not something Showtime has ever dabbled in before.

Espinoza, though, rationalized Showtime's involvement in the event by noting that Mayweather - who signed a landmark deal with Showtime in 2013 - has spent his whole career pursuing the entertainment of the general public, and continues to do so through Mayweather Promotions.

"It's a different type of event, and a different type of event than we're typically doing here," Espinoza told us.

"This is not as traditional as most things he's done but it's not out of character. He's continuing to do what he's done his whole career, which is to go out of his way and entertain people.

"That was the magic of a Mayweather event - it was always a spectacle."