YouTuber Logan Paul has been savagely mocked by boxing fans after he imitated Muhammad Ali's famous rope-a-dope technique during a sparring session.
The 26-year-old American star is training hard ahead of his upcoming exhibition bout with boxing legend Floyd Mayweather on 6th June in Miami, Florida.
Paul has since uploaded a clip of him taking a page out of Ali's book and using the rope-a-dope to avoid several shots from his sparring partner.
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The YouTuber-turned-boxer captioned the Instagram clip: "[Two] weeks until I beat @floydmayweather."
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Ali famously deployed his trademark rope-a-dope in his sensational victory over fellow boxing legend George Foreman in their 1974 Rumble in the Jungle showdown.
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However, Paul's attempt didn't impress fans as they ripped into him ahead of the fight with Mayweather.
"Brilliant talent. Will be a two-weight champ, Floyd is lucky to be in the ring with him," one Twitter user posted.
Someone else tweeted: "Stop. Just stop. Never do that again. Never."
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And a third added: "Take that sparring partner to the Oscars! Great performance, followed the script perfectly. If this was real and he didn't just go to the body once, I hope he'd quit boxing for good."
While a fourth wrote: "Is he planning for Mayweather to be backing him up into corners?"
Paul has only fought professionally once when he suffered a split-decision defeat to YouTube rival KSI in their 2019 blockbuster clash.
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However, the YouTube star has claimed that he "understood the magnitude of what a special event this was" when he accepted the Mayweather fight.
Speaking to The Daily Show with Trevor Noah, Paul said: "People ask the question, 'Why would I fight Floyd Mayweather?' It's because my kids' kids will talk about this.
"Generations to come will talk about this moment in history and when I accepted this fight I understood the magnitude of what a special event this was.
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"You don't turn down an opportunity to fight a specimen like Floyd Mayweather; the greatest fighter of our generation.
"My whole life has been overcoming challenges, exceeding expectations, surprising people and doing what 'could not be done' and this doesn't feel any different to me.
"I've never been intimidated by Floyd or anyone, so I think I stand a chance -- you'd be lying if you said it was impossible, he's human, it's a fight and anything can happen.
"I'm 30 pounds heavier, half his age, a foot taller and I work my a*s off so I don't know, anything could happen."
Featured Image Credit: Instagram/Logan PaulTopics: Logan Paul, Boxing, muhammad ali