Source: Icon Sportswire / Getty
The combat sports world was taken aback by news that Floyd Mayweather was coming out of retirement to take on a young kickboxing talent. But Money Mayweather just issued a statement via Instagram stating he is not fighting 20-year-old Tenshin Nasukawa in a special promotion but did say he will appear in an exhibition bout.
This past Monday (Nov. 5), Mayweather, his business associate Brent Johnson, and Nasukawa appeared together at a news conference for the Rizin Fighting Federation. The bout between Mayweather and Nasuwaka was scheduled for Dec. 31 in Japan.
Now, Mayweather says he and his side were blindsided by details of the fight, this after stating he only agreed to put on exhibition rounds and not a full-on match.
From Mayweather’s IG:
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.
Mayweather has teased a return to the ring officially in recent months, including a potential fight with Manny Pacquaio.
https://www.instagram.com/p/Bp49AUphcLu/
—
Photo: Getty
