The on-off saga of the Floyd Mayweather vs Tenshin Nasukawa matchup at Rizin 14 took another twist yesterday. The boxer told TMZ ‘we’re gonna make it happen’ and December 31st promises to be an easy night’s work for the five division world champion.
“It’s gonna be a little boxing exhibition. No kicking. I’m moving around with the guy for nine minutes, and of course it’s gonna be the highest paid exhibition ever. It’s a no-brainer. Just because I’m retired from boxing, I still make appearances worldwide and make a ton of money.”
It appears that all the conditions which Mayweather would have required to appear at Rizin’s annual New Year’s Eve event have been met. He won’t be required to participate in an actual fight, but will participate in a three round sparring contest against an opponent 30lbs smaller than him.
Tenshin is regarded as being one of the best kickboxers on the planet but has no boxing experience. Rizin initially announced that the two would fight at the Saitama Super Arena on the Rizin 14 card only for Mayweather to flatly deny his involvement in an Instagram post a few days later.
Mayweather boasts a 50-0 professional record but is ostensibly retired. He points out that this is an ‘appearance’ and not an actual fight but the boxer claims to be making ‘seven figures’ just for promoting the event which represents a lucrative pay day even for a multi millionaire.
So far no actual fights have been announced for Rizin 14 on December 31st but some of the promotion’s biggest names like Kyoji Horiguchi and Rena Kubota are expected to feature.
