According to reports, Floyd Mayweather will squeeze in a June exhibition bout ahead of fighting Manny Pacquiao again on September 19 in Las Vegas.
The exhibition bout, which was first reported by The Ring this morning, is apparently set for Athens, Greece, and will see Mayweather square off with a fighter named Mike Zambidis.
Zambidis is a 45-year-old from Athens who goes by the nickname “Iron Mike” and is best known for his work as a kickboxer. In that world, Zambidis is an 18-time world champion with a record of 157 wins (87 by knockout) and only 24 defeats. His last fight as a kickboxer took place in 2015, also in Athens, where Zambidis was able to beat Australia’s Steve Moxon by five-round decision. Afterwards, he announced his retirement from the sport.
However, Zambidis wasn’t finished with fighting just yet. In March 2019, he made his return to action, this time for a professional boxing match against Venezuela’s Antonio Gomez – a fight he won by four-round decision. There have, as far as we can gather, been no other fights since; no boxing matches, nor any kickboxing matches.
As for Mayweather, while his professional boxing record still stands at 50-0 (27 KOs), he has shown signs in recent years that he is perhaps willing to risk perfection with some additional fights. His last pro fight was a bizarre pro-exhibition hybrid against Conor McGregor – a mixed martial artist and pro boxing debutant – in 2017, while his next one, scheduled for September, will be against a 47-year-old Manny Pacquiao. He has also, in the eight years between his last pro fight and his next one, dabbled in more than one exhibition, which suggests the itch to again grace the ring is less about further enhancing his legacy and more about attention and the need to make money. In that respect, Mayweather, at 49, is far from special or indeed perfect. He is instead no different than the others who came before him – not perfect, just a prizefighter.
