Logan's run to champ
Logan Paul insists he can become heavyweight champion of world as he is a ‘f***ing good boxer’ ahead of KSI rematch
LOGAN PAUL stands by his belief that he can become a world heavyweight champion.
The 26-year-old has only been training for two years, initially for his white-collar bout with KSI in August 2018 and most recently their Saturday night pro debuts.
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But he and trainer Shannon Briggs, himself a former heavyweight king, have been making ambitious claims about the American vlogger’s future in the hurt business.
And Paul - who will walk to the ring at 4am GMT Sunday morning to take on KSI - refused the chance to play down the far-fetched statements when pressed on them in Los Angeles.
The YouTuber said: “If I want to carry on boxing and become a champion then I don’t see why I can’t.
“People will just have to watch the fight on Saturday to realise I am actually a pretty good f****** boxer and I think a lot of my fans want to see me take that route.
“Fighting is fun but it is also dangerous so I just have to weigh-up the risk and reward.”
Sadly for Paul's prospects, KSI - who KO'd his sparring partner - launched a stinging attack on his lofty aspirations, saying: “I saw the comments about Logan being able to beat AJ and become the heavyweight champion of the world and he is retarded. I am just going to leave it at that."
In the pre-fight documentary premiered at the Belasco Theatre on Monday night, Paul revealed he battled serious depression after a controversial 2017 video post from Japan’s ‘suicide forest’ featured a dead body and made him a target of online abuse.
Getting called out by Brit gaming icon KSI, real name Olajide Olatunji, for their initial August 2018 Manchester battle, refocused his mind and, he claims, saved his soul.
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Paul, who claimed training had left him "suffering from brain damage", said: “Boxing saved my life, it is the greatest thing that has ever happened to me.
“There is really something to be said for pushing your body to the absolute limit. I have done that twice.
“And putting yourself in a literally life-and-death situation and coming out victorious changes you, it makes you a man and it has made me the man I always wanted to be.”
Briggs backed up his man's claims.
The 47-year-old, now most famous for his ‘Let’s go, champ’ catchphrase, says his protege can follow in his footsteps - even beating 6ft 6in 2012 Olympic gold winner AJ in the process, if he wishes.
Briggs said: “Logan Paul becoming a world champion is not impossible, it is very possible because I have the blueprint.
“I weighed less than two pounds when I was born, I was asthmatic and homeless as a teen and I became the two-time heavyweight champion of the world.
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“He is an amazing athlete with a great jab and reflexes and I think we are looking at the future of boxing.
“I believe he has everything it takes and in three to five years he could have a world title shot.”
Briggs, who has a no-contest on his 68-fight record thanks to a doping conviction, has helped Paul beef up into a muscle-bound powerhouse.
And the veteran brawler, who faced the likes of Vitali Klitschko, George Foreman and Lennox Lewis, says the boxing novice is already the greatest specimen he has ever seen, worthy of a shot at the division’s gold in around 20 fights.
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He said: “He has the best jab in the business, a sick right hand, a helluva left hook and a crazy uppercut, he can do anything. I am super surprised and impressed.
“We hope to get 10-12 fights in 2020 and another 10-12 in the following year.
“I have never seen an athlete like this and I can say that with conviction. Overtraining is his only problem.”
KSI's sparring partner gets knocked out as he trains for Logan Paul fight
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