Undefeated boxing icon Floyd Mayweather Jr. returns to the “sweet science” this weekend against Japanese MMA standout Mikuru Asakura for a special exhibition bout under the RIZIN banner in Saitama, Japan. After that, “Money” will make a quick turnaround for a celebrity squash match against YouTube personality “Deji.”
A quick Google search tells me “Deji” is the brother of fellow YouTuber “KSI.”
No disrespect intended to anyone involved but I can’t imagine these exhibitions are worth the Mayweather price tag. Or maybe they’re designed to keep the 45 year-old “Pretty Boy” in shape until his Conor McGregor rematch gets finalized for early 2023. Unless that’s just another media troll job from the retired ex-champion.
“I want to go out there this weekend and have fun, then I have another exhibition in Dubai in November and me and Conor McGregor in 2023,” Mayweather told Sportsmail. “We don’t know if it’s going to be an exhibition or a real fight. But there’s been talks of both. I am not into fights where I am going to take any real punishment. So, guys like Conor McGregor and guys that don’t really hit hard such as YouTubers or UFC guys, I don’t really mind colliding with those kinds of individuals but nothing where I am going to put myself in a position where I am going to harm myself or hurt myself.”
Mayweather defeated McGregor by way of technical knockout during their first pay-per-view (PPV) contest back in summer 2017 and in the years that followed, kept himself rich in the fight game by way of lopsided exhibition bouts against overmatched celebrities and geriatric journeymen.
As for McGregor, who turned 34 back in July, he’s still nursing a broken leg suffered in his most recent loss to Dustin Poirier, part of a 1-3 skid dating back to late 2018. It should be noted that his “Diamond” days were expected to help “Notorious” prepare for a Manny Pacquiao boxing match.
Instead, they left him stuck on a scooter.