Floyd Mayweather vs. Logan Paul: Three biggest storylines to follow ahead of the Showtime PPV event.

Floyd Mayweather will return to the boxing ring on Sunday night, battling YouTube star Logan Paul in an exhibition match from Miami Gardens, Florida. The fight between 44-year-old Mayweather and Paul, 18 years Mayweather's junior and likely 50 pounds bigger on fight night, is drawing big attention as a unique spectacle.

Paul has vowed to ruin Mayweather's legacy by scoring a big upset, which may be true even if the result of a fight will not alter Mayweather's sparkling 50-0 record as a professional. Paul's quest to forever alter the way Mayweather is remembered as a fighter is just one of the storylines at play when the action goes down live on Showtime pay-per-view from Hard Rock Stadium.

Let's take a look at some of the biggest storylines heading into Mayweather vs. Paul, including whether Paul has any chance of actually cashing in on this opportunity.

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The big "What if?"
Obviously, there's no bigger story heading into this fight than the idea of Paul, a controversial YouTuber, beating one of the all-time boxing greats. While the larger-than-life personalities of both men are what will pull in the eyeballs, there may be a more interesting aspect to the fight itself. That angle lies in questions fundamental to the structure of the sport. Given adequate time to prepare and with financial resources, can a much larger, and fairly athletic, younger man beat a great -- but much smaller -- boxer who is already well into his retirement?

On the surface, that answer is a simple "no." But, as Paul has said repeatedly, there's a reason weight classes exist in boxing. Paul is a physically strong man, and while he doesn't seem quite as natural a boxer as younger brother Jake, he does appear to have fully committed himself to legitimate boxing training, even if trainer Milton Lacroix's claims that Paul's jab may be better than the great Larry Holmes seems like a massive stretch. That certainly leaves open the possibility of the proverbial "puncher's chance" to land one flush on a smaller 44-year-old Mayweather and have it actually impact the fight.

Or, maybe Mayweather simply humiliates Paul from the opening bell.

Is Jake Paul next for Mayweather?
Jake appears to be the better boxer of the Paul brothers, and Mayweather has talked about beating both Pauls in 2021 -- and even suggested that he would fight them both on the same night. There's also the now infamous "gotcha hat" moment, where Jake stole the hat from off Mayweather's head and ate a punch in the ensuing melee. If Mayweather beats Logan -- the most likely result of the fight -- there's several storylines that make a fight with Jake a truly huge one in terms of interest.

While Logan is 0-1, failing to beat fellow YouTube star KSI both in an amateur fight and in his professional debut, Jake is 3-0 and has knocked out all three opponents, including former NBA point guard Nate Robinson and former MMA champion Ben Askren. While the level of competition hasn't been great, Jake has shown a dedication to his training, visible growth in his skills and some good power.

If Mayweather wants to keep making big money by showing up for the circus, it seems his next fight is all but locked in.

Is this what boxing is now?
The Paul brothers trips to the ring, as well as fights like Mike Tyson vs. Roy Jones Jr., have led to a narrative that boxing has become a sport that needs novelty fights to thrive. Even the undercard of Paul vs. Mayweather backs up some of those claims with former NFL star wide receiver Chad "Ochocinco" Johnson making his boxing debut in an exhibition fight.

Of course, that line of thinking ignores that boxing is putting out some great fights with more on the schedule in the coming months. This past Saturday night saw Devin Haney make a statement with an exciting win over Jorge Linares and Nonito Donaire turning back the clock and knocking out Nordine Oubaali to become the oldest bantamweight world champion in the history of the sport. That came after Josh Taylor and Jose Ramirez battled in a compelling fight for the undisputed title at 140 pounds and a host of other recent great ones. The welterweight and lightweight divisions are stacked with talent, Errol Spence Jr. is going to fight Manny Pacquiao this summer, and while the heavyweight unification fight between Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua was bumped from the schedule, the "punishment" for boxing fans will likely be Fury vs. Deontay Wilder 3 and Joshua vs. Oleksandr Usyk. There are plenty of reasons for boxing fans to be excited about much of what has happened for the sport recently.

Boxing may never return to the heights of any of several former "golden eras" but the sport is doing just fine while the novelty fights draw in big attention for a completely separate audience.

Logan and Jake Paul dismiss Floyd Mayweather ahead of exhibition: 'He needs us more than we need him'
The brothers have broken into boxing with a flurry as they plan to continue boxing at a high level

DORADO, Puerto Rico -- If there's one single message that brothers Logan and Jake Paul -- YouTube stars and social media influencers turned boxers -- have for retired pound-for-pound great Floyd Mayweather ahead of his June 6 bout against Logan, it's quite simple. 

Be thankful. 

Mayweather (50-0, 27 KOs), who appears to be past the days of fighting elite professionals at age 44, has found himself an interesting new foil that fits his business model of putting on huge events with relatively low risk for giant sums of money. 

The retired legend and five-division champion will come out of retirement yet again next weekend in an eight-round exhibition fight headlining a Showtime PPV at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, Florida. The 26-year-old Logan Paul (0-1) will have huge advantages in size, weight and youth but remains an understandable heavy betting underdog for this special attraction. 

While Mayweather will be fighting Logan next Sunday night, the older brother to 24-year-old Jake (3-0, 3 KOs), the man known simply as "The Problem Child" is inextricably linked to this fight largely because of an incident at a press conference earlier this month in which Jake stole Mayweather's hat following a face-off and received a punch to the face for his efforts. Most believe Jake could be a future opponent for Mayweather regardless of the outcome against Logan. 

Regardless, and for better or for worse, the Paul brothers have arrived as legitimate PPV brands within the world of traditional boxing and they don't appear to be going anywhere soon. 

"MMA was kicking boxing's ass," Logan Paul told CBS Sports during an interview with Showtime cameras this week during training camp. "Now everyone is interested in boxing. The model is being replicated time and time again. You got Triller now, you got Social Gloves and just the weekend after our fight there is TikTokers and YouTubers fighting. Jake just got a deal with Showtime. At what f---ing point is it legit? 

"Wake up and smell the coffee. We are here and we are here to stay."

Jake Paul, whose knockout streak as a professional includes YouTuber AnEson Gib, retired NBA guard Nate Robinson and retired MMA fighter Ben Askren, took it one step forward when asked whether he believes Mayweather respects their business and marketing acumen. 

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"He has to," Jake Paul said. "That's why he is fighting my brother. Who else is Floyd going to fight that will sell millions of pay-per-views? He needs us more than we need him."

"There is zero validity to any of that," Mayweather Promotions CEO Leonard Ellerbe told CBS Sports on Friday. "Imitation is the highest form of flattery, I always say that. I always say that! They have taken Floyd's blueprint and have been able to run with it and I applaud them for that. But to make any notion of Floyd needing them is really one of the dumbest comments that I have actually heard in quite some time."

The Paul brothers refer to themselves openly as disrupters within the traditional boxing game by referencing a recent study showing Generation Z's newfound interest with the sport. Much of that can be tied to the attention they brought over the last few years by leveraging audience across multiple social media platforms that includes a combined 43 million subscribers on YouTube alone between the brothers, who grew up in suburban Ohio. 

"We are bringing in a new light and a new wave," Jake Paul said. "That's because of the YouTube celebrity boxing culture and us bringing Instagram and all of our followers over. It's all new people who are wanting to pay for fights who normally wouldn't have."

Although both brothers continue to turn out a constant stream of social media content that has made both incredibly wealthy, that doesn't mean both are taking their actual craft any less serious than they need to. Each has dedicated himself to the gym over the past three years while assembling separate teams of professional trainers and sparring partners in order to improve.  

While Jake, admittedly, has much more of a passion to be taken seriously as a legitimate fighter, it's his older brother who almost seems to get his rocks off by constantly trolling the sport. Some of that is what Logan refers to as his natural ability to play an online character much dumber than his actual self. Either way, he's not necessarily aching for traditional boxing to respect him.

"I get it. I get it. We are here putting on a show and we are just getting started in boxing," Logan Paul said. "But this is the beginning of a very long career path for Jake and I. I would be surprised if people didn't have their doubts right at the beginning. But what happens in two years? What happens in three years when we are really good at this sport and we are beating professional boxers and are very skilled and really earning our respect in the sport? I don't know. People are going to shut up eventually but I get it for now.

"I mean, does [Mayweather] think I suck? The answer could be yes. There is nothing online that is exceptionally spectacular of me boxing. But in the past year and a half, we have got to a really, really, really good spot. I think on June 6, we are going to find out why there is weight classes in boxing. I'm not some guy going in there and tapping you. I ain't got pillow hands. I hit hard and I'm fast and I'm tall. I'm long and I'm strong. I'm angry and I want this shit."

Few believe Logan's advantages of 18 years in youth, six inches in height, four inches in reach and upwa