Former cruiserweight world champion Johnny Nelson has jokingly claimed YouTuber Rashed 'Money Kicks' Belhasa looks like a baby ahead of his professional debut.
'Money Kicks', who has won two white-collar bouts in his home country of Dubai, will make his full debut on the undercard of Anthony Joshua's world heavyweight title rematch with Oleksandr Usyk on Saturday night. He opens the night against Traycho Georgiev, much to the chagrin of hardcore boxing fans who believe YouTubers shouldn't be given spots on major cards.
And Nelson, who is working on the Sky Sports Box Office broadcast for this weekend's event, told today of how he was contacted to commentate on Belhasa's once slated exhibition bout with boxing legend Floyd Mayweather. The 50-0 fighter had been toying with the idea of facing the YouTuber earlier this year after facing Logan Paul in 2021, but the event fell through.
Instead, Mayweather faced former sparring partner Don Moore, and Belhasa opted to stay training, ultimately taking this fight in Saudi Arabia. Now, he makes his professional debut on a massive fight card, and looks to cement his place as one of YouTube's top boxers.
"Funny thing was, Floyd's people asked me to fly over and commentate on this fight and it fell through," Nelson explained during the live broadcast of the open workout. "I thought 'what are you doing Floyd?' He looks like a kid, he looks like a baby.
"But the thing is this, the YouTubers are getting a lot of stick from the boxing fraternity or fans. But you've got to understand that they are now educating fighters to now repackage themselves, re-sell themselves and some YouTubers have found out the one thing in this game is that you can't play boxing.
"This young man has got the opportunity to box on such a massive bill - it's a completely different world. Oldies like myself will think 'what is this about?' But this is what you've got to look at; he may inspire some youngsters or some people who might want to watch this fight because they're his fans.
Do you believe that Money Kicks should be on Saturday night's card? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below!
"It may not be your taste or my taste or hardcore boxing fans tastes, but this young man has got such an opportunity to be on the bill. And it's good business for TV, for the audience, and it's very courageous of him as well because he could fall flat on his face and embarrass himself, but he's willing to take that chance - this young man's got a great opportunity."
Belhasa is a man of few words at the best of times, and opted to let his pad work do most of the talking today at the open workouts. He hit the pads for a round before doing a brief interview, where he expressed his intention to represent Dubai, his home country, proudly on such a massive stage.
"I am looking forward to it because it's my professional debut and I am excited to represent my country [Dubai] and the Middle East," Belhasa said after the workout. "Inshallah I will make them proud back home.
"This is professional, it's different. I had more pressure in my first fight because I did an exhibition in front of my country and I didn't have any boxing experience. This time I've had a two month training camp, so I'm ready and Inshallah I make everybody proud in the Middle East."
