By: Sean Crose
The one and only Floyd Mayweather will engage in another exhibition bout, this time on September 24th in Japan. His opponent on the Rizin Fighting Federation card will be 16-3 mixed martial artist Mikuru Asakura. While the 30 year old Asakura is reputedly quite good in the field of mixed martial arts, he’s no boxing standout. Just how confident is the now 45 year old Mayweather of his upcoming ring performance? He claimed at a Wednesday press conference in Hawaii that he doesn’t feel the need to train particularly hard.
“We don’t train as much when we were competing,” Mayweather admitted. “When we were competing we were competing against the biggest and best in the sport of boxing.” Part of this statement was probably designed by Mayweather to get inside Asakura’s head. An opponent in an exhibition is still an opponent, after all. Yet Mayweather went on to detail how he and his team prepare for exhibition bouts.
“We may train a few days and let the body rest a few days, train a few days, rest a few days,” he said. “We don’t really train too much. We just travel and enjoy life. As far as boxing and competing at the highest level, I did it for so long. When it’s time to go out there and do what I’ve got to do, I got that on lock.”
Things turned a bit ugly during the faceoff at Wednesday’s press conference when one of Mayweather’s bodyguards physically pushed Asakura away from the famed fighter. To his credit, the Japanese mixed martial artists played it cool and didn’t appear to let the incident get to him. Still, the man has good reason to take the exhibition seriously. Looking good against Mayweather – even a 45 year old Mayweather – might do wonders for Asakura’s career.
Mayweather has been making a second career for himself since besting UFC star Conor McGregor in his last professional fight back in 2017. Exhibition bouts may not be official affairs, but they seem to earn Mayweather a mint. That’s probably why he’s engaged in three since retiring professionally.
Back when he fought as a pro, Mayweather was unquestionably an all time great, with a crisp yet fluid defensive style that was never bested in 50 fights. He also headlined the top two pay per view matches in history – the first when he defeated Manny Pacquiao in 2015, and the second being the McGregor match two years later.