FLOYD MAYWEATHER went from visiting Money Kicks’ private ZOO to closing a deal to bizarrely fight the YouTuber.
Money Kicks – real name Rashed Belhasa – has been dubbed ‘The Richest Kid in Dubai’ due to his extravagant lifestyle.
Son of billionaire construction mogul Saif Ahmed, 20-year-old Belhasa has been afforded a life of luxury.
That includes a trainer collection worth £1million, supercars and a gigantic mansion that has a zoo onsite.
Stars of the sports, music and celebrity world have all visited the zoo, including Mayweather himself.
It was in 2017 the the American legend first flew out to meet Money Kicks, with the pair even recording a vlog as they toured the stunning complex.
Belhasa idolises Mayweather and even kitted himself out in boxer’s ‘Money Team’ merchandise.
So when Mayweather, 44, in December announced he was returning to the ring for an exhibition in Dubai, he turned to Money Kicks as an opponent.
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Belhasa told SunSport: “Floyd is always respectful, cool guy, humble guy, and before meeting Floyd I always had the TMT merch.
“I took pictures and always wore his merch. Always a respectful guy.
“When I met him recently, he said, ‘You’re the guy’. I said, ‘Which guy?’ And he said, ‘You’re the guy, you always support me’.
“I didn’t know that he knew me. It was four years ago, five years ago, and he’s always shown love.”
Mayweather first met Belhasa four months after he officially retired, following a tenth-round stoppage over ex-UFC champion Conor McGregor, 33.
But he has returned twice since in exhibitions, first against Japanese featherweight kickboxer Tenshin Nasukawa, 23, on New Year’s Eve in 2018.
Then last June, he was taken the distance by US YouTuber Logan Paul, 26, over eight rounds in Miami.
Fans believed that was the last time Mayweather would step foot in the ring, until his shock announcement made on the helipad of Dubai’s Burj al Arab hotel.
Soon after he revealed plans to actually fight 700m above sea level on the helipad, Mayweather called a meeting with Belhasa’s representatives.
Money Kicks revealed: “Floyd had like a press conference on the helipad. I didn’t see this, but the next day Floyd’s team wanted to meet.
“I didn’t know what they wanted, we met, I brought my lawyers, I brought my team.
“We met and when I’m leaving the meeting I saw Floyd say, ‘I would love to fight Rashed.’
“And then I posted that and it went viral – and now it’s with the lawyers. It’s very close inshallah to be done very soon.”
Mayweather retired as the self-proclaimed ‘best ever’ with an unmatched 50-0 record and world titles in FIVE weights.
Whereas Belhasa has just ONE YEAR and two celebrity bouts worth of boxing experience, beating Anas Elshayib and Ajmal Khan.
The vlogger is now ready to put respect for his hero aside, at least until the final bell sounds.
He said: “When we enter the ring, you think this guy is going to try and knock me out and make me look dumb.
“So you have to fight back. I will respect him after the fight, but in the middle of the fight anything can happen.”
The two are still in negotiations, with lawyers overlooking contracts for a proposed eight-round exhibition.
Mayweather blasted Nasukawa out in just one round in Tokyo, but Paul was able to use his TWO STONE weight advanatage to survive the late onslaught.
So Belhasa is ready for whatever version he faces in the ring, but knows the fun and games end once the first shot lands.
He said: “You never know with Floyd, I saw Logan’s fight and in the beginning he was going easy in the beginning and then he went crazy.
“I know if I connect with a strong punch, Floyd won’t like that.
“I saw with the Japanese guy that fought Floyd, the kickboxer, the guy punched him, Floyd got mad, boom, knocked him out.”
