At this point in his career, Floyd Mayweather Jr. can choose to do whatever he wants. And that’s what the 45-year-old undefeated boxing star has done so far by signing up for a boxing exhibition match against former title challenger Mikuru Asakura this weekend under Rizin.
And true to his nickname, Floyd Jr. announced an easy huge payday for himself.
‘From this exhibition alone I will be making somewhere upwards of $15-20million. That’s just from this exhibition. So, it’s cool. Nine minutes, 20 million, not bad,” he said in a recent interview.
But someone else who usually has some inside information begs to differ. In a recent video he uploaded on his YouTube channel, Chael Sonnen claims Mayweather’s earnings for the fight are way lower than previously advertised.
“Floyd is claiming he’s gonna get $20 million for this — I call it ‘rassling because they’re not actually [fighting] — but whatever they’re getting ready to do in Japan, whatever that is that’s going to look like boxing, he’s getting $8 million,” he said (quotes via MMA Fighting).
“Now, eight is a beautiful number. But he claimed he was getting 20. So I feel because I know the real number, that I can’t let it go. I must come to you guys. I have a journalistic obligation to come and inform you it’s actually $8 million and he’s exaggerating.”
Sonnen went at it further by claiming there is a “script” involved.
“If Floyd can go in there and get $8 million for whatever that is and he doesn’t have to work very hard, he doesn’t have to train at all because the script is on his side and they’ve already told him who’s going down and when isn’t that something I’d want to emulate?
“Floyd’s gonna go over to Dubai, he’s gonna do something after this, which will represent the second time that he’s done that, and he’s going to get millions of dollars. I don’t know, I think in Dubai, they’re actual competition, they’re just with bums.
“Those might also be scripted like the stuff he’s doing in Japan, I don’t actually know that, I haven’t got to see one, they’re like little private events.
“This is his second time going back [to Japan],” Sonnen said. “People use Floyd once, they get their ass kicked and they don’t go back to him. It was a terrible deal. These guys are. They paid him $8 million, gave him a script, bringing him back again, giving him $8 million, have him read the script.”
Mayweather vs. Asakura happens on September 25th at the Saitama Super Arena.
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