Rashed Belhasa's Boxing Journey: Money Kicks to Pro Boxer

Rashed Saif Belhasa built his early fame online. As “Money Kicks,” the Dubai-based content creator amassed millions of YouTube subscribers and Instagram followers by showcasing sneakers, supercars, and a headline-grabbing lifestyle as the son of Emirati businessman Saif Ahmed Belhasa. Few expected that the same young influencer would eventually step through the ropes as a boxer. Yet that is exactly the path Belhasa has followed since 2021, turning a social media persona into a genuine athletic pursuit.

The influencer-to-fighter trend

Belhasa’s move into boxing did not happen in isolation. By 2021, “influencer boxing” had become a global phenomenon, largely driven by YouTubers Jake Paul and Logan Paul crossing over into the ring against professional fighters and each other. Belhasa has said publicly that watching this wave — including Logan Paul’s high-profile exhibition against Floyd Mayweather — inspired him to bring a similar concept to the Middle East.

The amateur debut: Social Knockout

Belhasa’s first competitive bout came on July 30, 2021, at “Social Knockout,” a UAE-first influencer combat event held at Dubai’s Coca-Cola Arena and organized by TK Fight Nights in partnership with the Dubai Sports Council. In the main event, Belhasa faced fellow influencer Anas Elshayib and won by unanimous decision over three rounds. Ahead of the fight, he trained under coach Tam Khan at TK MMA & Fitness, describing the preparation as “the hardest thing I’ve ever had to do.”

The Mayweather rumor

In January 2022, boxing legend Floyd Mayweather publicly floated the idea of fighting Belhasa in an exhibition bout planned for a helipad atop Dubai’s Burj Al Arab. The story generated significant international coverage, with Mayweather praising Belhasa’s rise and hinting the local crowd appeal made him an attractive opponent. The bout, however, never came together — Mayweather instead fought other opponents later that year. For the full story, see our dedicated breakdown of Rashed Belhasa vs. Floyd Mayweather: What Happened?

Turning professional

Belhasa took the biggest step of his boxing career on August 20, 2022, making his professional debut on the undercard of the high-profile Oleksandr Usyk vs. Anthony Joshua 2 card at the Jeddah Superdome in Saudi Arabia. Facing Bulgarian boxer Traycho Georgiev over four rounds at welterweight, Belhasa lost by split decision. The result gave him an official professional record of 0-1, according to boxing databases BoxRec and Tapology. Full bout-by-bout details are covered in our article on his Boxing Record: Fights, Results & Career Timeline

Belhasa has continued to appear in exhibition bouts since then, including a unanimous-decision win over Ayman Al Yaman in February 2024 in Dubai — a result that does not count toward his official professional record but reflects his continued commitment to the sport.

Why his story resonates

What makes Belhasa’s boxing journey notable isn’t a string of victories — his professional ledger currently shows more setbacks than wins. It’s the trajectory: a teenager known purely for online content choosing to test himself in a demanding combat sport, publicly, with real risk of losing in front of a global audience. That willingness to be judged on athletic merit, not just online popularity, is what separates his story from many other social-media-to-sports crossovers.

To understand more about how he prepares for fights, read How Rashed Belhasa Trains for Boxing. For an analysis of his approach inside the ring, see Rashed Belhasa’s Fighting Style. And to see how his content-creator roots shaped this whole chapter of his career, check out From Social Media to the Boxing Ring.

Rashed Belhasa’s boxing career remains a work in progress, but it has already cemented him as one of the most recognizable faces in the Gulf region’s growing influencer-boxing scene.