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Floyd Mayweather backs out of New Year's Eve fight

08 November 2018 - 07:14
By Odwa Mjo
Unbeaten American boxing star Floyd Mayweather.
Image: NonAFPe None Unbeaten American boxing star Floyd Mayweather.

After much hype around Floyd Mayweather making his return to the boxing ring, the iconic fighter appears to have backed out of a fight with Japanese kickboxing star Tenshin Nasukawa.

In an Instagram post Mayweather said he was "blindsided" by the promoter. He said he did not expect the event to be this big and saw it as an "entertainment fight."

"First and foremost, I want it to be clear that I, Floyd Mayweather, never agreed to an official bout with Tenshin Nasukawa."

View this post on Instagram

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 regard 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.

A post shared by Floyd Mayweather (@floydmayweather) on

On November 5, the Rizin Fighting Federation announced that world champion boxer would compete against Japanese kickboxing powerhouse Nasukawa.

The fight against the 41-year-old undefeated champion was supposed to take place on December 31 in Saitama, Japan.

Here are 4 things you need to know about Nasukawa

 - The MMA and kickboxing athlete is only 20-years-old.

 - Nasukawa has participated in over 30 fights, loosing zero in his kickboxing matches      and winning four out of the five MMA fights. 

 - According to Sports Illustrated, he started karate at the age of five and picked up             kickboxing in grade six. He went pro at 15-years-old.

- He made his MMA debut in December 2016.

Some folks thought it might be a stunt or that the moolah wasn't enough.

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