Floyd Mayweather Says New Year's Eve Fight vs. Tenshin Nasukawa Not Happening, Never Agreed To
Floyd Mayweather announced on Instagram that the planned New Year's Eve event between him and Tenshin Nasukawa is not happening. Mayweather said it was supposed to be a small exhibition that took a new direction he was unaware of.
The retired boxer announced Monday in Tokyo that he would fight in the Rizin Fighting Federation on Dec. 31 at the Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan.
Before the announcement, Mayweather posted on Instagram teasing New Year's Eve. But that post has since been deleted. He didn't delete posts that showed him in Japan.
But in the post Wednesday, Mayweather explained he "never agreed to an official bout with Nasukawa." He said he was asked to "participate in a 9 minute exhibition of 3 rounds with an opponent selected by the 'Rizen Fighting Federation.'" He said he was told it was to be an exhibition for a small group of wealthy spectators for a very large fee. But once Mayweather arrived to the Monday press conference, he learned of the planned "new direction" of the fight.
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In the post, Mayweather said he wanted to "sincerely apologize to my fans for the very misleading information that was announced during this press conference and I can assure you that I too was completely blindsided by the arrangements that were being made without my consent nor approval."
The 41-year-old Mayweather is 50–0, while the 20-year-old Nasukawa is also undefeated at 27-0 in kickboxing with 21 knockouts. He is currently 4-0 in MMA matches (two TKOs, one submission and one unanimous decision).
In the days after the Monday announcement, it was unclear whether it would be boxing match or an MMA fight. Several rules remained undetermined.
