Floyd Mayweather beats Mikuru Asakura in an exhibition boxing match in Japan

Floyd Mayweather still wins boxing matches, even if they don’t set his official professional record.

The legendary boxer stopped Japanese MMA fighter and YouTuber Mikuru Asakura at the end of the second round with his big right hand on the Rizin Fighting Federation card on Sunday in Saitama, Japan. It was Mayweather’s second exhibition match this year and his second in Japan since retiring from professional fights.

Mayweather is said to make in the $20 million range for the match, which was scheduled for three rounds. Manny Pacquiao, Mayweather’s longtime rival, was ringside.

“I’d like to thank the entire country of Japan,” Mayweather said afterwards. “Unbelievable country, incredible people. An exciting, incredible turnout. A round of applause for this great contender here.”

After an event-free first round in which Asakura landed some bodily hits, Asakura had some success in the second round, tying several times to Mayweather’s header left and rights from a South Bow stance.

But Mayweather, one of the best boxers of all time and the highest-grossing martial arts athlete of all time, is back with strong shots of his own. He landed hard on the body just before the end, then set up Asakura for the big right flank at the second inning bell, which eventually ended the match.

Asakura was slow to get up, and referee Kenny Bayliss waved a fight before either boxer reached his corner after the second.

“Thank you for having me,” Mayweather told the crowd. “I’ll be back later.”

Mayweather, 45, admitted Pacquiao’s presence in his post-fight speech, oddly calling him the “future” world champion. Pacquiao, 43, addressed audiences before the show and again afterward.

Before the fight, Pacquiao said Asakura, 30, traveled to the Philippines to ask him for advice on how to compete against Mayweather. Pacquiao added that he was present to support Asian martial arts. After that, Pacquiao twice said he hoped to be invited back, leading commentators to speculate that something might be up with Rizin, Mayweather and Pacquiao.

“I hope this won’t be my last call to see a good fight, a good show,” Pacquiao said.

In a strange pre-match scenario, a man who was supposed to bring Mayweather flowers – a pre-fight combat sport tradition in Japan – threw the bouquet on the ground instead of delivering it to Mayweather.

Mayweather came to the ring wearing a shirt with the number 50 on it, indicative of his 50-0 professional record. In December 2019, Mayweather finished Japanese kickboxing prodigy Tenshin Nasukawa in the first round after three knockouts. Nasukawa competes at around 120 pounds. Asakura was much closer to Mayweather’s weight, and perhaps a bit bigger, on Saturday, although there was no official contracted weightage.

In an under-card match against Mayweather vs. Asakura, Mayweather’s bodyguard Ray “Jezy Mac” Sadeghi was knocked out in a boxing match by the 135-pound Koze. There was no weight, but Sadeghi was much bigger than Kozy in the ring.

Mayweather held an exhibition match against Don Moore in May in Dubai and said he would be involved in another such match in the Middle East before the end of the year, although no opponent has been named.