Floyd “Money” Mayweather is set to return to the ring at RIZIN 38 on September 25, 2022 for a boxing exhibition against 16-3 MMA fighter, Mikuru Asakura. At the press conference for the event, the two men engaged in a staredown, posing for the cameras to build hype for the fight. From there, however, things took a strange turn.
As the two men were facing off, A member of Mayweather’s entourage decided to insert himself in the moment and shove Asakura to the point that he almost fell off the stage.
There didn’t appear to be any animosity between the legendary boxer and the former Rings Outsider champion, but it seems that the bodyguard decided that it was his time to shine—deploying a seemingly unprovoked push to make his point.
Fortunately, Asakura kept his cool and retook his position in the face-off, with the bodyguard going right back to his shoving ways before Mayweather brushed him off. It was a thoroughly bizarre occurrence for a combat sports press event, which could have easily ended much worse—and all for no apparent reason.
Floyd Mayweather’s bodyguard intervenes during his face-off with Mikuru Asakura pic.twitter.com/WmIyuMhhgv
— MMA mania (@mmamania) August 31, 2022
Aside from Floyd Mayweather vs. Mikuru Asakura, the rest of the RIZIN 38 lineup includes:
Kyoji Horiguchi vs. Yuto Hokamura : Bantamweight
Kyohei Hagiwara vs. Chihiro Suzuki: Featherweight
Juri Ohara vs. Luiz Gustavo: Lightweight
Shoma Shibisai vs. Cally Gibrainn de Oliveira: Heavyweight
Hiromasa Ogikubo vs. Kim Soo-chul
Yoshinari Nadaka vs. So Trakunpet Bandasak: 117 pounds (kickboxing bout)
You can catch the entirety of the RIZIN 38 presser below:
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