Floyd Mayweather has already solidified himself in the history books as a newly minted Hall of Famer and he is returning to the ring again. While promoting his new exhibition fight during a press conference yesterday, Mayweather revealed that he is actively trying to have an NBA team.
“I’ve been communicating with some certain individuals about an NBA team for the last six months. That’s something I’ve been working on behind the scenes but I never came out and publicly talked about that with the media.”
LeBron James recently signaled that he would like to bring a team to Las Vegas. In a recent episode of “The Shop,” James mentioned that he wants to own an NBA team one day, specifically in Las Vegas. With Mayweather as one of the pillars of Las Vegas entertainment, Mayweather was asked if was considering bringing a team to Sin City.
“Me and my team have been working behind the scenes with the NBA, but I’m working on getting a team absolutely. I can say exactly where, but I’m working on getting a team.”
The Exhibition Hustle
The “Money” press conference in Las Vegas announced his return to Japan for his next exhibition boxing bout against MMA fighter Mikuru Asakura.
“As you guys know, I was in Canastota, New York, just being inducted into the Hall of Fame, which was truly amazing. My body of work, as far as my career, I’m truly blessed way beyond belief. I got to where I got to just by working extremely hard, and I’ve got the right team.
“I had so many great days when I was competing at the highest level, but it’s still a great feeling just to travel the world and do these exhibition bouts and have fun. My legacy is already engraved in stone, and it’s still great to entertain people from all walks of life.”
Unbothered
Mikuru Asakura (16-3 MMA) has fought for Rizin in his 12 professional bouts at the featherweight limit of 145 pounds. The 29-year-old fought three times in 2021 and has eight knockouts. He has yet to fight in 2022, and the Mayweather fight will likely be his first for the year.
“Im an MMA fighter but I’m going to use this opportunity and I’m going to use him to raise my name and value internationally. I will win this fight.”
Mayweather was unbothered, saying, “I’m Floyd Mayweather to him. He’s just another opponent.”
“I’m pretty sure, come September in Japan, we’re going to give people what they want to see. They want to see a young guy that’s across from me trying to see if he can be the one to say Mayweather doesn’t need to be doing any more exhibitions. So that’s the ultimate goal.
“By me just doing exhibitions, it’s keeping my body in shape, I’m able to work out and that’s very important because I always talk about my health; your health is your wealth. Even with me doing these exhibitions, I’m still not taking any punishment.”
Floyd Mayweather with a speech about the number of belts and sanctioning fees in boxing: "We're watering the sport down, everybody is champion now. We have to clean the sport of boxing up."
[🎥 @RIZIN_PR] pic.twitter.com/Z5ZcBN08ap
— Michael Benson (@MichaelBensonn) June 14, 2022
Checking Logan
Mayweather took the time to address the accusations being hurled by social media star-turned-part-time boxer Logan Paul, who claims he was never fully paid for their June 6, 2021 exhibition bout.
“I did one with Logan Paul, and I don’t really want to call that an exhibition. I came to entertain; he came to hold. It is what it is, and it’s so crazy; you know, I don’t have social media on my phone, and every once in a while, somebody will send me social media to my phone, and it’s so crazy that Logan Paul wants to do an exhibition again, but this is the same guy that says that he didn’t get paid.
“Someone from his team reached out to us and said Logan Paul wanted to do another exhibition. Certain individuals clout chasing, you see these guys bringing up Floyd Mayweather name for clout. I don’t know who exactly reached out. I don’t entertain the bullsh*t, we know he got paid.”
An emotional @FloydMayweather dedicated his International Boxing Hall of Fame induction to his father 👏 pic.twitter.com/3FGlSd283m
— ESPN Ringside (@ESPNRingside) June 13, 2022
Boxer-Businessman
The bout will take place in September in Japan with Rizin and will be broadcast on the newly announced Rizin Fight Pass. The bout continues Mayweather’s reign as the best boxer-businessman ever. He is turning a post-career hobby into a full-blown international tour.
In 2018, Mayweather faced Japanese kickboxing star Tenshin Nasukawa at Rizin 14. Mayweather knocked him down thrice in the opening round; Nasukawa’s corner eventually threw the towel. The most recent exhibition bout occurred against former training partner “Dangerous” Don Moore in May.
Mayweather continues showing fighters that the opportunities are limitless as he executes a new chapter in his business journey.
