Who is Floyd Mayweather's next opponent Mikuru Asakura?

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Mikuru Asakura (left, @mikuruasakura), Floyd Mayweather (right, @floydmayweather) [images courtesy of Instagram]

Floyd Mayweather will return to the ring in September to face Japanese mixed martial artist Mikuru Asakura in a Rizin exhibition bout. The 29-year-old southpaw has a record of 16-3 with 1 no contest and 8 knockouts to his name.

Asakura fights out of Tokyo, Japan, and is a member of Tri-Force Jiu-Jitsu Academy. He also holds a purple belt in Brazillian jiu-jitsu. He currently competes in the featherweight division of Rizin Fighting Federation, but has also competed for Road Fighting Championship, Fighting Network Rings and DEEP.

In addition to his success in MMA, he is also a popular content creator for YouTube in Japan, with 2.39 million subscribers to his channel.

He began his mixed martial arts career at a young age after it was suggested that he and his brother be enrolled in a boxing class to keep them out of street fights. From there, Mikuru Asakura's interest in MMA increased.

His amateur career ended with a record of 9-1 with 5 knockouts. He transitioned into being a professional MMA athlete in 2012.

In his last five fights, he has suffered two losses to Kleber Koike Erbst and Yutaka Saito. Other opponents he has faced include his most recent win in a rematch with Yutaka Saito, Kyohei Hagiwara, Satoshi Yamasu and Daniel Salas.

Asakura recently posted this padwork video to his Instagram:

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Mikuru Asakura vs. Floyd Mayweather

Mikuru Asakura and Floyd Mayweather will meet at an unspecified date in September for a Rizin exhibition bout. This is a fast turnaround for Mayweather, who just had a match against his former sparring partner, Don Moore, in Dubai.

In a press conference about the bout, Mayweather stated about his opponent Asakura:

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"I'm pretty sure in September we're going to give people what they want to see. People still want to see me compete, not at the highest level, but they want to be entertained by Floyd Mayweather. They want to see a young guy across from me to see if he can say, 'Mayweather doesn't need to do any more exhibitions.'"

He also mentioned that he plans to keep doing these exhibitons because they keep him in shape and get a work out, while not taking much punishment. He stated his last exhibition in Japan was fun, so he expects this next bout against Mikuru Asakura to be just as entertaining.

Watch the press conference here:

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