YouTube star Deji's coaches were treating his training camp for last summer's fight with Vinnie Hacker "like a stag do", according to strength and conditioning coach Leon Wills.
Muay Thai expert Wills was a part of AnEsonGib's team when they quarantined in Mexico with Deji, and noted that there were issues with his training ahead of the Brit losing in humiliating fashion to the TikTok star.
The YouTuber has since completely changed his coaching set-up and dropped a huge amount of weight in an effort to prepare for tonight's ring return against Alex Wassabi at the OVO Arena Wembley.
And it's a change that was necessary according to Wills, who said that he was in disbelief watching as the social media star struggled to get focused ahead of his last outing.
"Finally, he's taking boxing seriously," Wills told Mirror Fighting ahead of the fight. "His last fight was a terrible performance.
"The funny thing is I was out in Mexico with him and his team because I was training Gib and I was seeing them train him and looking going 'damn, you're getting finessed'!
"These people didn't care about him, he didn't look like a boxer, he was sloppy and all over the place, his eating was wrong, I think they were sneaking him pizza.
"It was crazy, but now he's got a good team around him and mentally the switch is flipped.
"That team looked like they were on a stag do, they were at the bar every night chasing birds around.
"Deji's girlfriend looked like she was his personal trainer, she was at the gym with him, running, on the bike, she was more with him than his team was."
At the time, the Brit told Mirror Fighting that he felt "more mobile", despite admitting that he had put on weight from his previous fight with Jake Paul.
"I'm definitely taking him out in the first round or second round 100 per cent," he said leading up to the Hacker fight.
Are you excited to see Deji back in the ring against Alex Wassabi tonight? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below!
"I weigh more now [than the Jake Paul fight], but I'm definitely more fluid on my feet.
"It's weird to say, but when I was lighter I wasn't as mobile as I am now."
But he now says that he wasn't taking fighting as seriously back then, and has vowed to be a different man when he faces Wassabi.
He looked a changed man on the scales at last night's weigh-ins, where he tipped the scales at a career-low of 168lb.
"When I weighed in at 183lb, I refuelled and got up to 93kg, so I was around 205lb," Deji said ahead of his fight. "That wasn't ideal.
"I'm not underestimating Alex Wassabi, I did that in my last two fights and I ended up losing, so I'm not going to underestimate any of his power.
"He may bring something to the table and we're going to see on Saturday night."
Tickets are on sale now at showstarboxing.com and via AXS for Showstar Boxing 2022, which will be headlined by Deji vs Alex Wassabi.
If you're outside of the UK, you can watch the fight on PPV via the Showstar website for £6.99.
