By Dean Berman: Jeff Mayweather says KSI’s victory over Logan Paul is the direct result of him putting in the “hard work” in training camp that he needed for him to learn the art of boxing to go out win last Saturday night in his Youtube celebrity match at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, California.
In contrast, Mayweather states that coach Shannon Briggs failed to help Paul in a real way by pouring compliments over his head without improving his game.
Like in their first fight in 2018, Paul exhibited the same stamina problems last Saturday night in losing a six round split decision to KSI. It was a fight that the 24-year-old Logan could have won if he’d put in the effort, but he gave away the fight by letting KSI be the aggressor most of the time.
Logan had KSI badly hurt after he dropped him with a left hand in round 4. Where Logan ruined his shot at winning was his decision to hit KSI on the back of the head while he was down.
The referee docked two points from Logan, and gave KSI five minutes to recover. That was crucial for KSI, because it allowed him to recover from the left hand that he’d been hurt with. Had KSI gotten back up and resumed fighting immediately, Logan likely would have finished him off easily.
Briggs was blowing smoke up Logan Paul’s backside – Mayweather
“He put in the work. We didn’t have a camp where no coach was blowing smoke up his a– like Shannon [Briggs] was doing with him [Logan Paul]. ‘You’re going to be world champion in three years. You’ve got good legs, and you’re white.’ What in the f– does that mean?” said Jeff Mayweather to Fighthub about KSI.
“That don’t mean s—. It doesn’t have anything to do with boxing. Basically, that’s exactly why they lost, because of the inflation of the ego, and not putting in the work,” said Jeff in analyzing why Logan Paul came up short.
It did look like Briggs was overly complimentary of Logan during their training. Although Logan’s jab and technical boxing ability looked improved from his first fight with KSI, he still appeared poorly conditioned. Logan could have used a trainer that worked on his stamina to get him to throw power punches, and pressure. Logan had the size and strength advantage in the fight, but he failed to use it due to his stamina problems. The way that Paul looked, he may be someone that is beyond help in the conditioning department.
KSI suffered in our camp – Mayweather
“This mother-f— [KSI] suffered in our camp,” said Mayweather in talking about KSI’s training camp. “To the point where there were days where his body needed rest. And the worst part was that him trying to impress everybody. Sometimes him impressing people was him going the extra mile that he didn’t need.
“So for instance, the coach saying, ‘Go three miles.’ No, to impress the coach, he’s going to go run 4 miles. No, stay your a– here. So at one point, everybody got really mad, and was pushing him. You don’t push like that.
“I learned a long time ago that you can push a person in a positive way, even though you’re trying to change a negative,” said Mayweather in giving his training philosophy. “Basically, the way to do that is to say, ‘Let’s try it this way,’ as opposed to, ‘You’re not doing s—.’ I mean, that’s ridiculing that person.
“If I’m saying the same thing, and saying, ‘Let’s do it this way’ to change it, they’re more receptive to do it that way. So basically, that’s what we did at camp. And once after that, we got on the right page, and everyone was supportive of everything moving forward, and he got better, better and better,” said Mayweather.
It sounds like KSI had a good training team. His willingness to work hard ultimately was the key to him winning. It sounds like KSI wasn’t being given false compliments in an effort to boost his ego.
Mayweather says celebrity matches will be the “new trend” in boxing
“No, because I’ve always been open to change, and if you’re not open to change and evolution, you’re lost,” said Mayweather. “You just get f—- lost in time. So, not me, no. I think this is the new trend in boxing. You’re going to get guys that are actors, singers, and they’re going to be headlining cards like this.
“It’s a good thing, and it’s a bad thing, but it’s a business thing. If I can get a sellout crowd, and have 40 million people watching this s—, hell yeah it’s good. It’s great,” said Mayweather.
With the money that KSI, Logan Paul and Matchroom Boxing made for this event, it’s academic that there will be future celebrity matches. It’ll require big stars to pull that off. KSI and Paul have an advantage in that they’re young, and have a large teen following that were willing to see them fight. For an actor or musician, it could be tougher to pull off a move like that.
KSI and Logan Paul made A LOT more than $900K each
“I think it’s great for the person that promoted it. F— no,” said Mayweather when asked if he ever made the kind of money that KSI and Logan Paul got for the fight. “These mother f— made more money than I’ve ever seen.
“Believe me; they made way more than that [$900,000]. WAY more than that. They made more money than anybody on this card. So, I wish I was one of those mother-f—-,” said Mayweather.
It would be interesting to know how much money Paul and KSI wind up making for the fight. We’ll likely never know, because those guys aren’t going to brag about it. There are a lot of other Youtube stars might be tempted to dip their feet into celebrity boxing if they can make the kind of money that KSI and Logan did.