FLOYD MAYWEATHER has been warned a disastrous and unthinkable loss to YouTuber Logan Paul would ‘change the world of boxing’.
And as a result, the American all-time great will secretly leave no stone unturned ahead of the ‘special exhibition fight’ next February.
Mayweather’s trusted southpaw sparring partner Denis Douglin told SunSport: “I think he could walk in as he is and still be fine.
“But, Floyd being Floyd, he’s going to train and he’s going to train his ass off. That’s just the level of perfectionist he is.
“The kid is a lot bigger and anything can happen. He lands a freak punch and knocks Floyd out, you change the world of boxing.
“Floyd’s not going to let that happen. Floyd, in my opinion, will train for this.
“Maybe not as intense as he would for Pacquiao or someone like that, but he’s not going to come off the street and fight him.”
Mayweather, 43, retired as a professional in 2017, after beating UFC star Conor McGregor, 32, in ten rounds.
Douglin helped the former pound-for-pound king prepare for the fight, providing him with some left-handed sparring.
And he witnessed Mayweather go through the motions before closing the show in round ten that night in Las Vegas.
Now, Douglin predicts a similar story against 0-1 Paul, who lost his debut to internet rival KSI, 27, last November by split-decision.
And he explains Mayweather has nothing to gain by blasting out his unfancied and inexperienced opponent – so will instead toy with the boxing novice.
Douglin, 32, said: “The size is what makes in interesting for me. But I think Floyd is going to have fun with it.
“There is no statement to be made, if Floyd comes out and knocks out a YouTuber in 30 seconds no one got entertained, we already knew he could do that.
“The way boxing is going is in the direction of entertainment, and Floyd is a master entertainer.
“He could have done the same with Conor, but he wanted to entertain the crowd and I thought that fight was great.
“Conor caught him with some good shots. I think Floyd will make it entertaining, not blow Logan Paul out.
“But when he’s ready, he’ll take it seriously and show the world there’s levels to this.”
Mayweather has not been seen in the ring since 2018, when he traveled to Japan to take on featherweight kickboxer Tenshin Nasukawa.
But the exhibition only lasted one round, as Nasukawa was dropped three times and left in tears afterwards.
Mayweather again called on Douglin to help him dust off some cobwebs, having been out of the gym since his retirement fight against McGregor.
And up until this summer, it was the last time the pair had shared rounds in the gym.
So when Douglin received a call from Mayweather in the early hours of the morning in June, he was expecting to be in for a similar night’s work.
But as it turns out, he was shocked as the retired legend appeared to have come back ‘stronger and faster’ – despite having not fought in two years.
Douglin said: “The power was different, and I don’t know what happened because we sparred before he went to Tokyo the first time.
“And he was good but I was like, ‘Ah, Floyd’s getting older, he’s slowing down’. But when I sparred him the last time it didn’t feel like that.
“It felt like a really good welterweight. I feel like he’s got stronger and faster than the last time we sparred before the Tenshin fight.
“Somehow he’s still improving. He’s a freak of nature.”
Mayweather’s decision to fight once more left Douglin far from shocked, having experienced first hand what he is capable of despite approaching 44.
And with the potential to still earn endless amounts of money by taking on stars of social media or the UFC, Mayweather will never allow himself to lose a step.
Douglin said: “He must be working, but nobody knows he’s working.
“The way we sparred, it was hard, you don’t do 30 minutes straight sparring at my level if you’re not in shape.
“We should all know Floyd’s not going to take anything without being in shape, he’s a true professional.”
