Floyd Mayweather Not Fighting Tenshin Nasukawa at RIZIN 14

Floyd Mayweather will not be returning from retirement to face 20-year old kickboxer Tenshin Nasukawa at RIZIN 14 on New Year’s Eve after all.

The 41-year old undefeated boxer had just announced the matchup on Sunday during a press conference in Japan and three days later the proposed bout has been cancelled.

Actually according to Mayweather, he never agreed to fight Nasukawa — or anybody else for that matter — but instead he expecting a short exhibition bout that would have been a lucrative payday while competing in front of some high paying businessmen.

“First and foremost, I want it to be clear that I, Floyd Mayweather, never agreed to an official bout with Tenshin Nasukawa,” Mayweather wrote on Instagram. “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 nine-minute exhibition of three rounds with an opponent selected by the “Rizin 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.”

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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 Nov 7, 2018 at 10:53am PST

The stunning announcement came out of nowhere after Mayweather had been hinting at a return to action for potential fights against former rival Manny Pacquiao as well as UFC lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov.

Now it seems the “fight” against Nasukawa was never anything more than a promotional stunt and Mayweather says he never agreed to an actual bout for RIZIN.

“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 said. “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.”

For their part, RIZIN has made no statement regarding Mayweather’s withdrawal from the event or plans for the Dec. 31 card moving forward.