Days after a press conference in Japan, Floyd Mayweather has claimed that he never agreed to fight on RIZIN’s New Year’s Eve card against Tenshin Nasukawa. On Instagram on Wednesday Mayweather made a lengthy Instagram post where he detailed his side of the story. The full statement reads:
“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.”
Mayweather’s post on Instagram earlier this week of him wearing a RIZIN MMA and Kickboxing glove has since been deleted. RIZIN, Brent Johnson and Tenshin Nasukawa have yet to put out a statement on the matter.
The mentioned fight put on for a small amount of wealthy spectators is something that has been offered to a boxer before. Heavyweight Tyson Fury mentioned on the “JRE MMA Show” that he was offered a fight on a cruise ship from someone “who wanted to make this a fight exclusive for him and his buddies.”
The ball is in RIZIN’s court at this point as to what they do with their New Year’s Eve show.
JackWannan.com 