On a recent episode of the TFU podcast, comedian and former amateur boxer Malik B opened up about what it was really like to spar Floyd Mayweather.
Malik began by explaining how he even ended up in that position. After starting his professional career 0–1, he said his father pushed him to take things seriously.
“So after I lost, my pop said, ‘You need to take this s**t serious.’ This is how I moved to Vegas,” Malik said. “Nobody wants you when you’re 0 and 1.”
That push landed him in a Las Vegas gym filled with elite boxers under the Mayweather banner, including J’Leon Love, Luís Arias, and Badou Jack.
The opportunity to spar Mayweather came when he was preparing for a match against Robert Guerrero, a southpaw with a similar build to Malik.
According to Malik, Floyd set the tone immediately. “All right, bro, you getting in there. I’mma f**k you up,” he said.
But the moment didn’t come right away. Malik described watching Mayweather cycle through other sparring partners first. “He beats the piss out of like two or three people, doesn’t call me. This is bulls**t,” he said.
Still, the opportunity came with perks: he was being paid $3,000 a week just to stay ready. “They’d call me at like 3:00 a.m., tell me to be at the gym by 4:00 a.m.,” he added, explaining that sometimes weeks would pass without him even being used.
When he finally got the call, the intensity didn’t let up. “He already beat the piss out of like two dudes,” Malik said, recalling the moment he stepped in.
Once the sparring started, he quickly realized the sparring wasn’t just physical, it was mental. “When you hit Floyd, Floyd talks s**t,” he said. “He gets in your head like, ‘Shut up, p**sy. Shut up, b**ch.’”
At one point, things got even more frustrating. Malik remembered Mayweather stepping on his shoe during the exchange.
“Shut the f**k up, bitch,” Floyd told him. “Bro, stop stepping on my s**t. Shut up. What you going to do about it?”
Malik also broke down some of the subtle tactics Mayweather used inside the ring. “Once you slip his punch, he grabs you, clutches your head, and uses the glove of the thumb to mess your eye up,” he explained. “He’ll rub his thumb in your eye and then push you off.”
Trying to match that energy didn’t go well. “I threw a left, he slipped. I did the same thing,” Malik said. “That n**ga punched me straight in my d**k.”
Between rounds, his corner urged him to settle down. “Bro, settle down. You a little too hype. This Floyd, I get it,” they told him. “Just settle down, move around. Stick to your jab, he’s got the long arms.”
Malik said he adjusted and that’s when things began to shift. “The more it started getting quiet… when it’s quiet, Floyd losing,” he said, suggesting that less trash talk meant he was finding success.
Even then, he noticed the dynamics working against him. Malik claimed Mayweather’s team would call time just as he started gaining momentum, forcing resets. Still, by the end of the session, he earned a backhanded acknowledgment. “Great work for a p**sy,” Floyd told him.
For Malik, though, the real takeaway came the following week. “I’m the head sparring guy because I got his respect,” he said.
