By Allan Fox: Floyd Mayweather Jr. says he’s going to be fighting in July in another three-round exhibition match in Japan, and he’ll be making $10 million against a Japanese former boxer. Mayweather, 41, isn’t saying who he’ll be facing or how old the fighter is.
“Yeah, I got an exhibition. I got another one in July, like $10 million [for] three rounds,” Mayweather said to TMZ. “Always my rules. [It’s a] former Japanese boxer, from what I heard. I got a call today.”
It’s unclear who will be paying Mayweather the $10 million for him to fight the 3-round exhibition. Mayweather at least is fighting a former Japanese boxer, which is a good sign. There are some very good Japanese boxers that the boxing world would love to see Mayweather fight. Former WBC super featherweight champion Takashi Miura (31-4-2, 24 KOs) would be an excellent choice for Mayweather. Miura, 34, has been out of the ring for two years since 2017, and he’s got massive punching power with either hand. Mayweather would have the weight advantage over Miura, but not necessarily the power advantage. Miura can really punch. It would be very surprising if Mayweather were to face Miura in an exhibition. Mayweather would need to earn his money in the three rounds against a guy like that. However, it’s unlikely Mayweather would agree to fight a still dangerous fighter like Miura. There’s too much of a threat of that fight blowing up in his face if he gets clipped by one of Miura’s big shots.
Despite the criticism that Mayweather received for his recent matches against MMA fighters Conor McGregor and Tenshin Nasukawa, he continues to press on with these type of fights, seemingly immune to the critics. Mayweather is clear that he’s not interested in talking about fighting a rematch with Manny Pacquiao.
“Just for exhibition for four fights, it’s about $80 million this year,” Mayweather said. “I don’t have to do the real thing. I am the real thing. I proved myself.”
It would be good for Mayweather if he starts fighting guys that have some talent, experience in boxing, and are capable of giving him a good test. The boxing public in Japan will soon grow weary of Mayweather’s one-sided exhibition matches and not want to pay to see these circus events if he’s not at least put in with opposition that have a sliver talent. That’s not knock on the 20-year-old Tenshin Nasukawa. He’s probably a very good kickboxer, but he doesn’t have the kind of boxing experience required for him to be inside the ring with a professional boxer like Mayweather. It’s going to be sad if WBA Super World super featherweight champion Gervonta ‘Tank’ Davis is the next to face Tenshin in an exhibition like Mayweather is saying will be happening in April. That’s going to be just as bad a mismatch as Mayweather’s three round exhibition fight against the Japanese kickboxer. It’s a good thing these fights aren’t being brought over to Las Vegas, because it would put the Nevada State Athletic Commission in a situation where they would need to decide whether to sanction these matches. It was baffling that the Nevada Commission sanctioned Mayweather’s fight against UFC star Conor McGregor in 2017 as a professional fight. Mayweather was able to break Rocky Marciano’s 49-0 record by fighting a guy with a 0-0 record from the UFC. It clearly cheapened the record. You don’t see that kind of thing in the NFL with a team bringing in a high school football team to pad the team’s record. It looked bad that the Mayweather-McGregor fight was sanctioned as a professional fight. If Mayweather were allowed to do that endlessly, the sky would be the limit to how far he could take his unbeaten ring record. It would depend on how long the U.S boxing fans would be willing to pay to see Mayweather fight MMA guys with no experience inside the squared circle.
Mayweather reportedly earned $10 million for his recent exhibition match against Japanese kickboxer Tenshin Nasukawa last year on December 31 at the Saitama Super Arena in Japan. Mayweather made quick work of the 20-year-old Tenshin, knocking him down three times in stopping him in round 1 in a fight fought under boxing rules. Tenshin’s corner threw in the towel to have the mismatch stopped. It didn’t matter. Tenshin was barely able to stand after the third knockdown. It would have been stopped anyway.
“Man, I don’t even have to talk about boxing right now,” Mayweather said when asked when he’s going to fight Manny Pacquiao. “Man, I’m living life. I’m eating so good. I’m making so many smart investments. Damn, they can’t stop me.”
When Mayweather was asked when he’s going to be fighting a rematch against Manny Pcquiao, he quickly shutdown that discussion by saying that he doesn’t want to talk boxing at this time. It was pretty clear with the way Mayweather stopped the discussion on that subject that he’s not going to be fighting a rematch against the 40-year-old Pacquiao anytime soon if ever. The thing is, Mayweather would make a massive amount of money from that one fight against Pacquiao than he would for one of his exhibition matches in Japan. But unlike those exhibition matches, there would be the chances of Mayweather losing. Pacquiao could beat him or make him struggle hard to win. With Mayweather enjoying himself traveling the world, shopping nonstop for high priced items, he may no longer be capable of beating Pacquiao. A lot has changed with Mayweather since his win over Manny in 2015. Mayweather hasn’t fought against a true professional fighter since he beat a shot Andre Berto in September 2015. That was an over-the-hill Berto, not a prime Berto. The last time Mayweather fought a guy that was healthy and not suffering some kind of problem was his second fight against Marcos Maidana in September 2014. That’s the last fight in which Mayweather someone that wasn’t shot and/or dealing with an injury problem from the boxing world. You can’t count Mayweather’s fights with an injured Pacquiao, over-the-hill Berto, MMA guy McGregor or Tenshin as being true tests for him. So it’s been five years now since Mayweather fought a dangerous opponent. At this point, it’s hard to imagine Mayweather beating anyone good in the welterweight division, least of all Pacquiao. At 41, Mayweather knows his limitations, so he’s not going to even entertain the thought of fighting a rematch against Pacquiao. Besides, with him being given huge money fight 3-round exhibition matches against over-matched opposition, why he does he need to fight someone that could potentially beat him like Pacquiao?
“If I wanted to,” Mayweather said when in response to whether he was offered $1 billion to fight in the UFC. “I’m not pressed. It’s all about being smart. My faculties are very important. No, I’m not worried about that. It’s time go to shopping,” Mayweather said when asked if he’d talked to UFC president Dana White about fights against Conor McGregor or Khabib Nurmagomedov.