Retired boxer Floyd Mayweather has denied he agreed to face Tenshin Nasukawa in an official fight, adding that he had "never heard" of the kickboxer.
It was announced earlier this week that the former five-weight world champion had agreed to face the Nasukawa in Japan on December 31. But Mayweather insists the agreement was only for a non-televised event for "wealthy spectators".
Several key details for the proposed fight were not announced at the press conference and now Mayweather insists he was "blindsided" in front of the media.
The 41-year-old took to Instagram to clarify the news, but it remains unclear if the bout will go ahead following fresh negotiations.
"First and foremost, I want it to be clear that I, Floyd Mayweather, never agreed to an official bout with Tenshin Nasukawa," he wrote. "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."
He added: "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."
