Floyd Mayweather (left) throws a punch at Japan’s Mikuru Asakura during their show fight in Saitama, Japan, on Sunday.
TOKYO (AFP) – Floyd Mayweather knocked out mixed martial arts fighter Mikuru Asakura in the second round Sunday in Japan at the latest post-retirement boxing show. The 45-year-old Mayweather fed his opponent with his right hand while former welterweight opponent Manny Pacquiao watched ringside in Saitama. American Mayweather, who retired in 2017 with an undefeated 50-0, then dismissed any prospect of a fight with similarly retired Pacquiao. Mayweather arrived at the Saitama Super Arena, north of Tokyo, an hour before the fight. He was shown on TV relaxing in a dressing room full of ready-made junk food, before walking onto his sidewalk. On another easy payday for “Money” Mayweather, the second-round ending bell sounded when Asakura hit the board, but failed to save the Japanese fighter and was unable to beat the count. “It was another blockbuster…boxing to me is like breathing,” Mayweather said, adding that he was looking forward to fighting more “YouTubers and MMA.” The great Filipino Pacquiao is not on his radar. “I retired for a reason,” Mayweather said. “I’m here to have fun and enjoy myself…but I won’t take any punishment to the point where I can barely walk and talk. “People will always pay to get a glimpse of Floyd Mayweather,” he said, before asking, “Why would I go in there and … fight a top fighter when I can get the same amount of money for three rounds with everyone else?” Asakura, the popular MMA star and YouTuber in Japan, gave Mayweather a workout more than the last time the American ran an exhibition in Japan, against kickboxing prodigy Tenshin Nasukawa in December 2018. “I’m glad he threw a few shots, which got the fans excited,” Mayweather said. “I’m proud of him. I’m proud that he came here. He helped me entertain people. He did what he was supposed to do…we both enjoyed.” Mayweather is said to be on the verge of agreeing to a rematch in 2023 with UFC star Conor McGregor. Mayweather beat McGregor in his last fight before retirement. The Mayweather-Asakura match did not have any judges, which means that the outcome will not depend on the fighter’s record. Mayweather predicted last week that the fight would be “easy payday, easy checking, easy opponent.” His retirement didn’t stop him from making millions of dollars from the show series. In his 2018 match with Nasukawa, a kickboxer less than half his age, Mayweather knocked him out three times in the first round in a two-minute fight, and hinted online that he made him $9 million.
