Floyd Mayweather is already in the next one.
The world exhibition tour continues for the former five-division Hall of Fame champion and pound-for-pound king, who will next take on YouTube personality Deji. The once-rumored bout is now official for November 13 at the Coca-Cola Arena in Dubai, United Arab Emirates (UAE), event organizer Global Titans confirmed on Monday.
News of the event comes less than 48 hours after Mayweather’s most recent in-ring appearance, a second-round knockout of Japanese mixed martial artist Mikuru Asakura last Saturday night (Sunday afternoon local time) on PPV. .com from Saitama (Japan) Super Arena. He will now return to the Middle East for the second time in six months as he enters his third exhibition match overall this year.
“I am delighted to bring this incredible boxing experience to Dubai,” Mayweather said in the official press release. “Global Titans will provide fans with a boxing match like no other with a huge card. It’s an honor to be a part of such an iconic event in an iconic city, and I’d like to thank the Global Titans team for reaching out to me and giving so much back to the sport I love.”
Mayweather previously fought in the United Arab Emirates last May, contesting eight rounds in an exhibition with former training partner Don Moore.
The event was due to take place on May 14 in Dubai, before it was canceled following the untimely passing of United Arab Emirates President Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan the day before the event. The death of the president carried with it a mandatory period of mourning. The show eventually went on, was rescheduled a week later and moved to Abu Dhabi.
Deji is very familiar with the influencer boxing circuit. The younger brother of fellow YouTube superstar KSi, Deji, whose full name is Deji Olutanji, first fought on the August 2018 undercard of KSi’s fight with Logan Paul, when the two fought to a draw. A pair of younger brothers on the undercard saw Deij suffer a knockout loss to content creator and current cruiserweight Jake Paul, who had yet to turn pro at the time.
In fact, Deji was winless in his first three exhibition bouts before triumphing in a third-round knockout of YouTube variety actor Fousey. The feat, which does not count as a professional fight, came on the undercard of KSi’s two wins on the same night at the launch of Misfits Boxing + DAZN: X Series on August 27 at The O2 in London.
The 25-year-old social media influencer is now keen to keep up the momentum against one of the greatest to ever don a pair of gloves.
“Thank you so much to Global Titans and my team for creating this incredible opportunity,” said Deji. “It is a privilege to headline this phenomenal show in Dubai, against the great Floyd Mayweather of all time. This is going to be fun!”
Despite this, it marks his fifth time climbing the ropes. Deji, who has always fought at light heavyweight, has yet to be credited with an official pro fight.
The same applies to Mayweather since August 2017, which marked the last professional fight of his career. Mayweather scored a 10th-round knockout of UFC superstar and boxing debutant Conor McGregor at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas to officially walk away with a perfect record of 50-0 with 27 knockouts.
The event stands as the second highest grossing combat sports event of all time. Mayweather also holds the all-time record, with his twelve-round win over Manny Pacquiao in their May 2015 pound-for-pound showdown destroying all financial benchmarks.
Mayweather will now enter his fifth exhibition fight since his last official fight, the streak started with a first-round knockout of Tenshin Nasukawa. The fight was ridiculed because Mayweather, by far the best fighter of his generation, manhandled a considerably smaller MMA fighter with no real boxing experience.
The opposite was in play for his next adventure. Mayweather gave away more than 30 pounds in his eight-round exhibition with Logan Paul last June in Miami Gardens. A more level playing field in terms of weight came in his matchups with Moore and Asakura, each of which produced eight-figure paydays for Mayweather.
Deji has weighed as light as 168 and as heavy as over 200 pounds in his previous shows.
Jake Donovan is a senior writer for BoxingScene.com. Twitter: @JakeNDaBox
