YouTube star Harley Morenstein prepared for his boxing debut by taking part in car park sparring sessions with his coach Sam Hyde.
Morenstein made his ring debut at the Creator Clash event last month in Tampa, Florida, stopping Arin Hanson with the help of his 62lb weight advantage. The social media sensation is best known for hosting Epic Meal Time, a popular YouTube cooking show.
The Candian had been working with Montreal-based boxing coach Jessy Thompson and controversial comedian Hyde for the fight. Hyde was originally booked to fight Morenstein at the event, but the divisive personality was deemed too big of a "business risk".
In the lead-up to the fight, Morenstein and Hyde took part in sparring sessions in a Rhode Island car park. Morenstein joked that he felt like the "Rhode Island Rocky" after his training sessions where confined to an office and wooden dojo.
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"We were at the f****ng parking lot everyday. There's the parking lot, the wooden dojo and the warehouse office. They were are like the Def Jam: Fight for New York levels, they're not real places to fight. I feel like the Rhode Island Rocky," Morenstein said on his YouTube channel.
"Day after day it was a certain type of hell that if I didn't escape, I would be stuck there forever. I was looking at Rhode Island house listings, not even consciously. I would wake up in the middle of some fever-dream and my phone is out, I'm looking at real estate in Rhode Island."
Hyde wasn't able to compete at the Creator Clash event, but has previously showed off his boxing skills in a sparring session with the event's creator Ian 'IDubbbz' Washburn during a documentary last year.
Speaking of why he took the decision to help train his scheduled opponent, Hyde said: "Harley has been cool to me. When people who are sort of mainstream and not on the fringe are cool to me, it's a very rare thing. Anybody like that has a lot to lose by associating their name with me".
Morenstein said he was questioned by some fans about whether he shared Hyde's political beliefs by partnering with the comedian for his fight camp. He insisted that he didn't speak with Hyde about the matter and solely relied on him to prepare for his fight.
