Despite his latest retirement from boxing in 2017, Floyd Mayweather is rarely out of the news. The limelight (and the opportunity to make more money) always seems to beckon him back.
With rematches against Manny Pacquiao and even Conor McGregor frequently mooted despite the passage of time, it seems that the 43-year-old Mayweather may be making a comeback after all. But not against the opponent you might expect.
Reports out of Japan suggest Mayweather (50-0, 27 KOs) will meet former WBA super-featherweight champion Takashi Uchiyama, now 40, later this year.
The bout would fall under the auspices of Japan’s RIZIN MMA organisation who staged a fight between Mayweather and its rising star Tenshin Nasakuwa in 2018 where the much larger American triumphed in a round.
Nothing to write home about but more money in the bank for the business-savvy American. Yet RIZIN gained huge publicity from the Mayweather-Nasakuwa fight and may now turn to brand ‘Money’ again in another high-profile exhibition.
An exciting, heavy-handed fighter who made 11 successful defences of his 130lbs crown between 2010-2015, Uchiyama lost back-to-back fights to Jezzrel Corrales before retiring in 2016. He was wildly popular in his homeland, but has struggled for money in recent times and turned to crowd-funding to support his gyms earlier in 2020, according to the highly informed Asianboxing website.
Mayweather would have a significant size advantage, but Uchiyama (24-2-1, 20 KOs) does at least have a fine boxing pedigree unlike the novice Nasakuwa. Uchiyama has kept himself in fighting shape and would be the star Japanese name to draw attention and sponsorships to the promotion.
Stranger things have happened in 2020.