At it again … Mayweather set to cash another exhibition check
| International Boxing Hall of Fame former five-division champion and longtime pound-for-pound king Floyd Mayweather, along with trainer Gerald Tucker, and Japanese two-division MMA champion Mikuru Asakura met face to face at an outdoor news conference by the Pacific Ocean in Hawaii on Tuesday to promote their exhibition bout that was announced in June. Mayweather, 45, and Asakura, 29, will meet in a boxing exhibition scheduled for three rounds at 155 pounds on Sept. 24 at Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan. The card, promoted by Japanese MMA company Rizin Fighting Federation, will be available in the United States as a $29.99 pay-per-view via Integrated Sports on linear television and via live stream at PPV.com and FITE. The broadcast begins at 11 p.m. ET |
“I know it’s just an exhibition match but with my single punch I could guarantee that his stomach will flair up like an eggplant,” Mayweather said, drawing laughter. “Comparing both of us, it’s like a jet and a fly, so I look forward to having a match against him. It’s always good to go out and test your skills even when you get older.”
Asakura, whose MMA titles came at 143 and 154 pounds, later said to Mayweather through a translator: “You talk a lot so try to keep it more compact and concise.”
It will be Mayweather’s fourth exhibition bout since retiring 50-0 with 27 knockouts following a knockout of UFC star Conor McGregor in 2017. His first one, on Dec. 31, 2018, was also at Saitama Super Arena, where he scored three knockdowns in a brutal destruction of smaller Japanese kickboxing star Tenshin Nasukawa on a Rizin card.
Mayweather’s two other exhibitions were eight-rounders that went the distance, against YouTube personality Logan Paul in June 2021 in Miami Gardens, Florida, and former sparring partner Don Moore, whom he knocked down in the final round, on May 21 on Yas Island in Abu Dhabi in the UAE.
