Athletistic/ Boxing. 45-year-old undefeated American professional boxer Floyd Mayweather returns to Japan for his next exhibition boxing match, and this time he will be fighting an MMA fighter.

Boxing legend Floyd Mayweather will face Japan’s Mikuru Asakura, who has spent most of his professional career in MMA.

The fight will take place in September in Japan at an event promoted by Rizin. Dueling rules and other details will be announced soon.

The exhibition bout will be Mayweather’s third fight of this caliber since his last professional fight, which took place in 2017 against former UFC two-division champion Conor McGregor.

Mayweather’s first time in exhibition bouts after his professional career ended in 2018 was against Japanese kickboxing star Tenshin Nasukawa in the Rizin 14 tournament. Mayweather knocked Nasukawa down three times in the first round of a boxing match, forcing the opposing team to stop the fight.

The second demonstration fight under Mayweather boxing rules was against blogger Logan Paul in June last year. The duel took place according to unusual rules: there were no side judges, it was possible to gain the upper hand only by knockout. But that didn’t happen. The fight ended in a draw. It should be noted that according to the results of the weigh-in, Mayweather weighed 15.4 kg less than Paul – 70.3 kg against 85.7.

The last exhibition bout was in May against former Mayweather sparring partner Don Moore. The fight lasted eight rounds. Mayweather knocked down his opponent multiple times. After the fight ended, the organizers did not name the winner.

Mayweather was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame last Sunday, a feat that brought the 50-win undefeated professional boxer to tears during his speech.

“I have achieved a lot in my career, but this is definitely the best achievement. I want to thank the International Boxing Hall of Fame for giving me this. This award belongs to my father, because he merit. Bernard Hopkins said it best: “You have to deserve it”, and my father deserved this award.

I want to thank everyone for their support. I want to say thank you to all the fighters, you are exceptional guys. I wouldn’t be here without you guys,” Floyd Mayweather said.

Asakura (16-3 MMA) has fought in Rizin in 12 of his previous pro bouts. The 29-year-old light heavyweight hasn’t fought in 2022, although he has had three fights in 2021, winning the last two bouts by unanimous decision over Kyohei Hagiwara and Yutaka Saito. In his professional career, Asakura has won eight times by knockout.

Artyom Ekshiyan. sport.ru