Floyd Mayweather vs Tenshin Nasukawa: American makes light work of kickboxing sensation
Floyd Mayweather made another comeback from retirement to easily beat Japanese kickboxing sensation Tenshin Nasukawa in a bizarre one-off exhibition match in Tokyo.
The undefeated boxer won in his first match since beating UFC star Conor McGregor by unanimous decision in August 2017.
The American billed the fight as the “highest paid exhibition ever”, but the event, which place on the RZIN 14 MMA card, will not go on either fighter’s record. Re-live the action below:
It has emerged that RIZIN officials are still waiting for Mayweather's arrival, with some reports suggesting he could be up to an hour away from the Saitama Super Arena!
Elsewhere, Jiri Prochazka defeats Brandon Halsey via a first round submission and Gabi Garcia was beaten Barbara Nepomuceno in a brutal end to a very one-sided contest.
Next up is Ayaka Hamasaki vs Kanna Asakura in the final fight before the joint-main event between Kyoji Horiguchi and Darrion Caldwell.
You probably have just long enough to read out exclusive interview with Joshua Buatsi, where he recalls why he turned down working with Mayweather, Actually, given we are already about three hours over schedule, you can probably take your time with this one.
He's finally here! Floyd Mayweather is in the building and we can restart this never-ending countdown to this meaningless exhibition fight. Happy New Year everyone, by the way!
Mayweather is getting his hands wrapped ahead of his showdown with Nasukawa. It would seem we are 30-45 minutes away from things starting, but given how this event is going, that could be another couple of hours...
Khabib Nurmagomedov's manager says that Floyd Mayweather wants a fight with the UFC superstar. Honestly, this man would even do panto if the money is right.
Khabib's manager, Ali Abdelaziz, told TMZ Sports: “Me and him (Mayweather) have been texting each other for the last month.
"He's very much begging for the fight. If he say he did not (call and text me), I'm going to put everything online. Don't lie, Floyd! Do not lie, Floyd!
"At the end of the day, if he want it, the fight is here. I like this fight. But, he has to come a little bit better. He knows what I'm talking about."
Dana White gave the potential fight his blessing in October. How kind of him.
The stage (ring) is set for the final event of the night and the reason we've all been sat around eagerly waiting for an event on the other side of the world with little meaning to take place.
Get ready folks.
It also seems that Sweet Caroline hasn't made it's way to Japan yet.
Floyd 'Money' Mayweather walks out with his own rappers screaming 'money team' as he attempts to get the crowd chanting 'TMT'. There's some interaction but it's limited.
Here's the man himself, and he's wearing one of those paper things you put over your mouth to control the air quality, either that or he was delayed earlier by a practical dentist course.
The event will not be shown live on TV in the UK, but fans can order the show live on FITE TV for $24.99 here.
When is it?
The fight tops a packed undercard in Japan and the two are expected to begin their ring walks before midday in the UK.
Rules
The exhibition fight will be contested over three, three minute rounds under boxing rules, Rizin confirmed last month.
Both Mayweather and Nasukawa will both wear eight ounce Rizin gloves and the result will not go on either fighter’s boxing or MMA records.
How much will Mayweather earn?
Mayweather revealed on Instagram that he expects to make $9m from the fight, working out at $1m per-minute of boxing. “What if I told you I was making $9,000,000 for 9 minutes of sparring in Tokyo Japan would you do the same if you were me?” he wrote. “I like to call it a 9 minute walk thru.”
Undercard
Tenshin Nasukawa vs Floyd Mayweather Jr.
Kyoji Horiguchi vs Darrion Caldwell
Kanna Asakura vs Ayaka Hamasaki
Rena Kubota vs Samantha Jean-Francois
Yusuke Yachi vs Johnny Case
Ulka Sasaki vs Manel Kape
Yuki Motoya vs Justin Scoggins
Nobumitsu Osawa vs Tofik Musaev
Jiri Prochazka vs Brandon Halsey
Justyna Haba vs Shinju Nozawa Auclair
Damien Brown vs Daron Cruickshank
Mika Nagano vs Miyuu Yamamoto
Gabi Garcia vs Barbara Nepomuceno
Kazuyuki Miyata vs Erson Yamamoto
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