On September 24, Mayweather took on MMA fighter Mikuru Asakura in his home country of Japan at a RIZIN super-fight event. Many important parts of this event need to be included in a Mayweather vs. Asakura recap.
Mayweather vs. Asakura Fight Recap
When writing a Mayweather vs. Asakura recap, capturing the energy inside the Saitama Super Arena is tough.
This fight, although an exhibition, was quite the spectacle of its own, with the fans seeing how Mayweather, in his mid-forties, would look against a prime MMA fighter with some serious power in his hands.
Round 1
The fight started off faster than expected, with both men letting their hands go early and often. The first round was full of showmanship, and both men invested in the body to start the exhibition.
The staredown in the middle of the ring showed both fighters filled with confidence. Asakura landed a heavy left hand on the body, and Mayweather returned with the same. Asakura ended round 1 with a laugh and felt like he belonged in the ring with Mayweather.
Round 2
Mayweather starts outputting the pressure on Asakura and making this a fight in a phone booth, something we haven’t seen too much of from Mayweather over his undefeated career.
Mayweather’s Style
This kind of style from Mayweather led him to eat multiple good shots from Asakura.
Right, when Asakura landed a big left hand with less than a minute to go in the round, the crowd got into it, and Mayweather showed that million-dollar smile, knowing he was in a real fight.
Mayweather then started landing heavy shots to the body, which opened up a laser of a right hand that sent Asakura to the canvas just as the second round bell sounded.
Unfortunately, the fight ended in an anti-climactic way, with Asakura too concussed to stand up after the bell and the referee calling the fight off.
Betting Recap
The Mayweather vs. Asakura recap of betting will start with the odds before the fight. Mayweather was a -700 betting favorite at the closing lines before the exhibition match, according to boxing odds.
Even with those odds, it would be ridiculous to ever bet against Mayweather at this point when he matches up against MMA fighters.
With this being an exhibition fight in the RIZIN organization, there weren’t any prop bets to bet on in any major sportsbook.
Spectacle Exhibition Matches
When betting on boxing, finding any value with odds like this is tough. Especially for these spectacle exhibition matches that don’t really
Most boxing picks that experts made were in favor of Mayweather. Boxing is a particular sport that you can’t bet the big underdog in.
It is a martial art that restricts many things and only allows people to use their hands. With someone with as much experience and skill as Mayweather, no one with less experience can beat him.
Manny Pacquiao
An interesting storyline in this fight was the appearance of Manny Pacquiao during the lead-up in Japan. Pacquiao was very vocal in his support of Asakura in this fight and was cheering on the Japanese MMA fighter ringside on Saturday.
Mayweather was heard telling Pacquiao that he could get “his ass kicked too” during the press conference earlier last week.
Mayweather Against Pacquiao: An Interesting Matchup
That would be an interesting spectacle to see both legends fight once again now that they are both out of their primes. They would both be able to put on a great show for fight fans around the world.
All in all, Mayweather made another big bag of money to come out and do what he does best, perform in front of fight fans.
He is still very successful and will always bring in a big crowd any time he decides to step back into the ring. You can’t help but respect the kind of success in and out of the boxing ring.
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