Boxer Floyd Mayweather Jr. Wants To Become Russian Citizen: Report

Legendary boxer Floyd Mayweather Jr. said he intends to become a citizen of Russia and was looking forward to it. According to a report by Russia 24, a state-owned Russian news channel, Mayweather Jr. said, “I hope to obtain Russian citizenship.”

"Today I already had the opportunity to look at the housing that could become my new home in Russia, but everything takes time,” he added.

Mayweather Jr. is one of the most successful boxers of all time in the United States. He has an undefeated professional fight record of 49-0 with knockouts (KO). While most of the fights which Mayweather Jr. fought were within the U.S., his inclination towards Russia is clearly evident from some earlier incidents. In Nov. 2016, Mayweather Jr. opened the Academy of Boxing in Zhukovka, a suburb of Moscow.

A shareholder of the academy Timothy Kurgin, said more gyms were planned for the country. "A number can reach to 20-30 in the long-term planning. They will be in every major city and regional center,” he added.

Mayweather Jr.’s connection with Russia doesn’t end there. According to a report by Vice in March, he took a trip to Russia in order to celebrate the opening of a new boxing gym in Moscow where he also conducted a boxing master class, a day-long job for which he was apparently paid $86,000.

The undefeated boxer then traveled to the Republic of Chechnya in his private 12-seater luxury aircraft where he was greeted by politicians and others connected to Ramzan Kadyrov, the head of the region. He went for lunch with Kadyrov, but more interestingly, the man who drove Mayweather Jr. to lunch venue was a Russian politician by the name of Adam Delimkhanov, the report added.

Delimkhanov was accused of multiple transgressions, including having ordered the assassination of the former Chechen warlord and Russian military commander Sulim Yamadayev in Dubai. He also threatened Russian Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) fighter Fedor Emelianenko after the fighter criticized Kadyrov’s MMA promotions, in 2016, where he made children fight.

The report also stated that after lunch at Kadyrov’s place, Mayweather Jr. was taken to Kadyrov’s MMA promotional gym, Akhmat Fight Club in Grozny, where he gazed at the 8,000-square-meter facility and heaped praise on Kadyrov for his dedication towards combat sports.

Although it wasn’t known how much Mayweather Jr. was paid for making an appearance, but he reportedly told Russian media that he had plans to come back and do business with the gym and its owner.

“Of course I have to plan for the future and will agree with his team and friends. But we're going to go back and plan to bring with us a top American boxing coach and the best trainers from the UFC," Mayweather Jr. said.