Floyd Mayweather Jr. to fight 18-time world champion in Athens

Floyd Mayweather heads back to the ring in Athens

Floyd Mayweather Jr. will be back in the ring on Saturday, June 27, 2026, in Athens, Greece. The former five-weight world champion "Money" Mayweather will face "Iron" Mike Zambidis , a legendary, history-making, record-breaking, 18-time kickboxing world champion from Athens.

Now aged 48, Mayweather Jr. competed professionally between 1996-2017, winning 15 world championships.

Since retiring at 50-0 in August 2017, after his 10th round knockout over Conor McGregor in Las Vegas, the American has been taking part in exhibition bouts.

The first came just 16 months after hanging up his gloves, against Tenshin Nasukawa, a world kickboxing champion, in Japan on New Years Eve 2018.

Then he famously fought YouTuber Logan Paul in Miami in 2021, and has now had eight exhibition bouts in six different countries in six years.

This will be his first venture back to the ring since fighting mob boss John Gotti's grandson in August 2024, which was a rematch from their first fight 14 months prior which ended in a mass brawl in the middle of the ring .

Who is "Iron" Mike Zambidis?

Michalis Zambidis was born July 15, 1980 in Porto Rafti, Athens, Greece.

His nicknames are "Iron" Mike and "Turkofagos, which translates to "Turkeater". He was bestowed with this nickname after beaten around a dozen Turkish opponents during his early career.

His first sport was gymnastics, which he started aged six.

Mike started training in kickboxing when he was just nine-years-old with his brother Spiros and best friend Lazaros Filipas. A natural, he quickly became a Greek Junior Champion.

He is trained by Kru Mario Barbatsas.

At just 16-years-old he was nominated for a place in the Guinness Book of Records for achieving 48 knockouts in 60 fights.

He spent three years on the Greek national boxing team in Sydney.

His extensive kickboxing record stands at 157-24, 87 KO.

Zambidis won 18 world titles during his 15-year career between 2000-2015, mostly fighting at welterweight and middleweight.

His last competitive kickboxing fight was in June 2015, which he won via five-round decision in Athens against a two-time middleweight world champion from Australia, Steve Moxon.

He was famed for his jumping left hook and flying knee attacks.