It’s been a rollercoaster these past two weeks, but it finally seems as if Floyd Mayweather vs. Tenshin Nasukawa has been made official.
The shocking match-up was announced on November 4 at a press conference in Tokyo, with tickets selling out the next day. On November 7, Floyd Mayweather took to social media to deny the fight was taking place. And then on November 10, after days of silence, RIZIN Fighting Federation issued a statement confirming talks have resumed a more clear announcement was coming soon.
No official statement has been made. But both Floyd Mayweather and Nobuyuki Sakakibara have confirmed the NYE contest will take place.
フロイド・メイウェザー選手とのミスアンダースタンディングは解決しました。彼は12月31日大晦日にRIZIN.14のリングで那須川天心選手と対決します。詳細は日本に戻った時に記者会見で話させて頂きます。#rizinff pic.twitter.com/l7sgPW3Go8
— NOBUYUKI SAKAKIBARA (@nobu_sakakibara) November 16, 2018
Nobuyuki Sakakibara is the CEO of RIZIN, and the English translation of his tweet is as follows.
“The misunderstanding with Floyd Mayweather has been resolved. He will face Nasukawa in the ring at RIZIN 14 on December 31. I will speak at a press conference when I return from the States back to Japan.”
Floyd Mayweather spoke to TMZ Sports and said the following.
“This is happening. It’s a small nine-minute exhibition. It’s gonna be the most expensive exhibition ever. Just by talking about the fight – just by me talking about the event – I’ve already made crazy money. I’ve already made seven figures.”
“It’s gonna be a boxing exhibition. No kicks at all. I’m moving around with the guy for three-rounds, nine minutes.”
While speaking to TMZ Sports, Mayweather corrects the interviewer when he asks if the fight will be taking place in RIZIN. Floyd says;
“No, no, no. It’s gonna be Mayweather Promotions ‘slash’ RIZIN.”
Following this up by asking how to pronounce RIZIN.
It will be interesting to see how this plays out, and it’s been a very confusing but eventful couple of weeks already. Six weeks left until RIZIN 14, so stuff should start coming together right about now. More news coming soon.
