Floyd Mayweather was inspired and "fired up" to train even harder for his exhibition bout with Money Kicks after training with Claressa Shields.
The 50-0 boxing legend has been spending time with Shields in preparation for her undisputed middleweight title defence against Ema Kozin in Cardiff this weekend.
And he his even considering making the cross-channel trip from his Stateside base to be there for her fight after watching her work out in the build-up to her UK debut.
Mayweather never got to fight outside of America during his iconic professional career, but has been able to compete in Japan during a 2018 exhibition and has travelled to London to watch Anthony Joshua.
And he could be set to visit Wales this weekend in support of his new teammate Shields, who is hoping to set up a fight with Savannah Marshall later this year with a big win.
"Floyd offered plenty of great advice to Claressa over the phone and in person once we joined the two camps in Las Vegas," Mayweather's coach Gerald Tucker told Vegas Insider.
"They trained back to back every night in Las Vegas at the Mayweather Boxing Club.
“I honestly think that it was very motivating for Claressa to train beside Floyd, she’s literally the Floyd of the women’s side of the sport.
"She wants what he has; a team of employees like his, the money, the accolades, the status, she got to see firsthand what it takes and how it feels to have it, she’s a women on more of a mission now."
And that inspiration was reportedly not a one-way street, with Tucker saying that Mayweather is now more motivated for his exhibition bout with YouTuber Money Kicks later this month.
Mayweather is set to fight Emirati influencer Reshad Belhasa atop the Burj Al Arab in Dubai on February 20, and has been training intensely, despite the low level of competition.
“Floyd also was motivated by Claressa’s work," Tucker continued.
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"He told me several times while watching her train with me that 'that girl can fight', 'she can fight'.
"And I felt the energy it gave him as we trained right after her gym session and Floyd was fired up tremendously from watching his mentee train with so much passion.
"Floyd was more than happy to have Claressa in camp with him.
“Floyd mentioned coming to the fight at the gym while Claressa was working on the bag, he asked us if we wanted him there, and of course we said 'hell yeah'.
"He’s going to try his best to come and support Claressa and get some more training while here to prepare for his upcoming fight later this month in Dubai.”
Mayweather is promoting the outrageous exhibition with Belhasa as part of a deal in the Middle East with Frontrow TMT and Undisputed, with details to be announced shortly.
