Correction: He did pay people to train him. That's different from hiring real trainers. See the word "real" in "real trainers"? It's part of their job to protect your key body parts during training.
Yeah there are like 100 who will claim that title and 2 who really earn it. You need to be a fanatic yourself (about anything, not necessarily the same topic) to understand who is a fanatic in his claimed area as well.