Floyd Mayweather Jr. to fight Mikuru Asakura for Rizin in Japan

During a June 13 press conference in Las Vegas, NV, hosted by Rizin, it was announced Floyd Mayweather Jr. would fight an exhibition against Mikuru Asakura.

Floyd Mayweather Jr. has another exhibition boxing match in the works. He will fight under the Rizin banner for the second time against MMA fighter Mikuru Asakura in September in Japan.

The announcement was made during a Monday night press conference on June 13 hosted by Rizin at M Resort Spa & Casino in Las Vegas, NV. The fight will take place in Japan. The exact date and location will come later.

Mayweather was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame yesterday in Canastota, NY. He never lost a fight during his career and won 15 world titles in five weight classes. He calls himself ‘TBE,’ short for “The Best Ever.”

Mayweather fought his last professional bout against former UFC champion Conor McGregor in August 2017. Mayweather stopped McGregor in round 10 to finish his career undefeated at 50-0, with 27 KOs.

Rizin will promote a September exhibition bout between boxing Hall-of-Famer Floyd Mayweather Jr. and MMA fighter Mikuru Asakura in Japan

Since retiring, Mayweather has attracted attention, fighting in several exhibition boxing bouts. Mayweather fought kickboxer Tenshin Nasukawa in 2018 for the Rizin MMA promotion. Mayweather dropped Nasukawa three times, forcing the round 1 TKO.

His most memorable exhibition contest came against Logan Paul in June 2021. No winner was declared since it was an exhibition bout, but Mayweather out-boxed the much larger Paul.

Mayweather fought an 8-round exhibition bout against former boxer and sparring partner Don Moore in Abu Dhabi in May. By all accounts, Mayweather fought well and knocked Moore down in round 8, and the fight went the distance.

Asakura is a Japanese MMA fighter with a record of 16-3 and fights in the featherweight division. He is 29 years old, and Mayweather is 45. There’s a big gulf in age, but the two are similar in size. Asakura is 5-foot-10, two inches taller than Mayweather.

It will be interesting to see if there are any wrinkles in the combat rules but expect a standard boxing exhibition match. Certainly, Mayweather will be paid handsomely for exhibiting his boxing skills.