FLOYD MAYWEATHER is secretly rolling back the years with late-night training sessions and sparring undefeated contenders.
The boxing legend is back in the gym and preparing for another exhibition comeback bout.
And leading the charge in the camp is his new head coach Gerald Tucker, a former professional who was unbeaten in eight fights.
The two go way back, having competed alongside each other on the USA amateur boxing squad and even lived together years later.
Tucker told SunSport: “It’s like brothers getting back together again, that same bond we had way back in the day.”
Through the years he had a front row seat to witness the magic between Mayweather and his former trainer, uncle Roger, who sadly died in 2020.
And even now, Tucker demands the same rules Roger laid out for his iconic nephew, leaving no room for respite, no matter how gruelling the session.
Tucker said: “We don’t rest in the gym. That’s something that Roger implemented in us since we were kids.
FREE BETS: GET OVER £2,000 IN NEW CUSTOMER DEALS
“That’s how I train my fighters still to this day, whether it’s Floyd or anybody else, we don’t rest, we work straight through.
“If it’s going to be a 90-minute workout, or over 100-minutes, we’re going to work straight, we get to rest up after we leave the gym.”
Mayweather, 44, officially retired in 2017 after beating UFC superstar Conor McGregor, 33, in a lucrative and high-profile crossover fight.
But the last time he shared the ring with a recognised boxer was in September 2015 against Andre Berto, now 38.
It was his proposed farewell fight and by that time – Tucker reckons – Mayweather was savouring at least 25 per cent of his efforts in the gym.
He revealed: “I think he stopped training as intense, I want to say around Berto, just from the outside looking in.
“I wasn’t there to say for certain, but I’d say he dropped down to around 60/65, something like that.”
But after the pair linked up in the summer of 2020 to train for an exhibition with YouTuber Logan Paul, it has produced the best of Mayweather.
Tucker admitted: “Since I’ve been around, hearing from people just saying that he’s different and it’s almost like the old days.
“I’m bringing something out of him, waking him up more, and I think he’s up to around 75/80 and every camp it’s going up more and more.
“I think we’ll be around 80/85 real soon and you’ll see a more chiselled Floyd, more ready and looking more like the old him.”
Taking out Irishman McGregor in ten rounds was not the final time fans would see Mayweather in the ring.
He first returned on New Year’s Eve in 2018 and wiped out Japanese featherweight kickboxer Tenshin Nasukawa, 23, in just one round.
Then last June, under the guidance of Tucker for the first time, Mayweather was taken the distance by vlogger Paul, 26, who weighed TWO STONE more.
Now the five-weight champion is in talks to face another YouTuber in 20-year-old Money Kicks – real name Rashed Belhasa.
Belhasa has had just ONE YEAR and two celebrity boxing bouts worth of experience.
But still Mayweather is grafting in the early hours of the morning and sparring future world title challengers.
Tucker said: “A lot of people who have reached that elite-status level in their careers are the same, they care about their name, their legacy, how they looked each and every time.
“No matter what the circumstances, you’re going to care how you look and be self-satisfied.
“That’s why you never catch him slipping, he’s always working out just in case.
“We call each other on FaceTime between camps and we’ll be on the treadmill or we’ll be outside running, just staying in shape.
“He’s always ready, he’s taking it as seriously as if it was a real fight.”
Whispers coming out of Mayweather’s Las Vegas gym suggest the 50-0 icon is barely losing a step in sparring, against boxers HALF his age.
And Tucker can lay testament to that, tipping Mayweather as an unbeatable force even to this day, over four years retired and turning 45 this month.
He said: “This is a totally unbiased opinion, this is going from what I see in the gym – especially when we were preparing for Logan – he has sparring coming in…
“And they’re undefeated guys, bigger guys, active guys, some of them are like 18-0, or 21-1, still at the start of their careers, and they still can’t lay a glove on Floyd.
“Floyd could still compete at this championship-level right now, still to this day and beat all of those guys.”
Mayweather is yet to confirm his next opponent but did announce he would return of February 20 in Dubai.
Most astonishingly, his comeback is set to commence on top of the Burj Al Hotel’s 700ft HELIPAD.
