Undefeated, retired pugilist legend Floyd Mayweather Jr. attended a press conference for Rizin Fighting Federation on Nov. 5. During the conference, it was announced that “Money” Mayweather is set to fight kickboxing phenom Tenshin Nasukawa in a “special rules” bout at Rizin 14 on Dec. 31.
The news blindsided many, as Floyd Mayweather Jr. has been campaigning a rematch against Manny Pacquiao inside the squared circle and more recently a boxing match against undefeated UFC lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov. Now taking to social media, Floyd Mayweather Jr. has come forward to reveal that the official announcement at the recent Rizin FF press conference was not accurate.
“Money” Mayweather claims he has not signed to fight Tenshin Nasukawa and that the bout was never intended to be televised or part of a larger fight card. Now the bout is off.
Check out Floyd Mayweather Jr.’s original statement down below.
“Now that I am back on U.S. soil after a long and disappointing trip to Tokyo, I now have the time to address you, my fans and the media in regards to the upcoming event on December 31st that was recently announced. First and foremost, I want it to be clear that I, Floyd Mayweather, never agreed to an official bout with Tenshin Nasukawa. In fact (with all due respect) I have never heard of him until this recent trip to Japan. Ultimately, I was asked to participate in a 9 minute exhibition of 3 rounds with an opponent selected by the “Rizen Fighting Federation”.
“What I was originally informed of by Brent Johnson of “One Entertainment” was that this was to be an exhibition put on for a small group of wealthy spectators for a very large fee. This exhibition was previously arranged as a “Special Bout” purely for entertainment purposes with no intentions of being represented as an official fight card nor televised worldwide. Once I arrived to the press conference, my team and I were completely derailed by the new direction this event was going and we should have put a stop to it immediately.
“I want 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. For the sake of the several fans and attendees that flew in from all parts of the world to attend this past press conference, I was hesitant to create a huge disturbance by combating what was being said and for that I am truly sorry. I am a retired boxer that earns an unprecedented amount of money, globally, for appearances, speaking engagements and occasional small exhibitions.”
