Floyd Mayweather set for New Year's Eve fight in Japan

[Terence Crawford]

https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/2018/11/04/floyd-mayweather-rizin-fighting-federation-fight/1888917002/


Floyd Mayweather, the 41-year-old undefeated boxing legend, is scheduled to fight on New Year's Eve in Japan in the Rizin Fighting Federation, the MMA promotion announced at a press conference Monday in Tokyo (Sunday night in the United States).

Mayweather, who was present at the press conference, will take on 20-year-old kickboxer Tenshin Nasukawa at the Saitama Super Arena.

At this point, though, it's not very clear what this fight will look like. Ariel Helwani of ESPN reported that "Everyone I’ve talked to said they’d be shocked if it’s MMA."

Mayweather himself expressed a similar sentiment.

"We'll talk about that, we'll get that situated within the next couple weeks," Mayweather said when asked at the press conference about the fight's weight class and the rules.

"We're giving the people something they've never seen before," Mayweather went on to say.

"As far as the weight class, we're not really worried about that. When it's all said and done, it's all about me going out there displaying my skills against another skillful fighter. So we both want to go out there and display our skills and give people excitement"

Nasukawa, Mayweather's opponent, is himself a perfect 27-0 in kickboxing competition.

When we last saw Mayweather in action, he was defeating UFC star Conor McGregor in "The Money Fight" to move his boxing record to 50-0. 

[nydiacaskey01]

At first I thought his fight with UFCs Khabib Nurmagomedov is in the works, but now this one surfaced the news recently. It's nice to see that his fight is more likely MMA rules but I am not trying to belittle Tenshin Nasukawa, his record is flawless and I am not taking that away from him but I don't think the kid will stand a chance with Floyd Mayweather. Floyd will just do his antics of jab and run. I wonder how much money was offered to Floyd Mayweather by the promoter of this fight to square off with the kid.

[Terence Crawford]

At first I thought his fight with UFCs Khabib Nurmagomedov is in the works, but now this one surfaced the news recently. It's nice to see that his fight is more likely MMA rules but I am not trying to belittle Tenshin Nasukawa, his record is flawless and I am not taking that away from him but I don't think the kid will stand a chance with Floyd Mayweather. Floyd will just do his antics of jab and run. I wonder how much money was offered to Floyd Mayweather by the promoter of this fight to square off with the kid.

I read that it will not be full MMA rules but rather modified rules, per whatever Mayweather decides.
Going to guess no elbows and some ground limitations too.

[Kemarit]

At first I thought his fight with UFCs Khabib Nurmagomedov is in the works, but now this one surfaced the news recently. It's nice to see that his fight is more likely MMA rules but I am not trying to belittle Tenshin Nasukawa, his record is flawless and I am not taking that away from him but I don't think the kid will stand a chance with Floyd Mayweather. Floyd will just do his antics of jab and run. I wonder how much money was offered to Floyd Mayweather by the promoter of this fight to square off with the kid.

I would also be interested on the financials about this fight. We all know that Floyd doesn't fight when there's no huge amount in the table, so another easy money for Floyd here. Age difference, 41 year old Floyd against a 20 year old kid, LOL. I really don't know what's going on with Floyd's mind right now.  

[crwth]

Probably there are a lot of fights that he will be going and is planned already. Maybe the Khabib part was for popularity just because of Khabib beating Conor. That's just how it was formulated. I think it would be a great fight knowing that they are both undefeated but I would be betting with Floyd.

[btc_angela]

I search about the news and its seems legit though, lot of sport related website is reporting it. But I was quite surprised by Floyd's move, I never thought that he will enter another MMA - Boxing type of thing but I was completely wrong. Probably another show how good he is but I don't know if fans are going to take this bait and watch the fight.

[sunsilk]

Have seen this with other source (espn) too so its really a legit event. Getting out of retirement this proves that Floyd is up with everything. I guess this is the reason why he went to Japan last time when the rumored came out about him and Manny Pacquiao.

Rules aren't final.

I wonder how much money was offered to Floyd Mayweather by the promoter of this fight to square off with the kid.

http://www.espn.com/boxing/story/_/id/25181251/floyd-mayweather-schedules-bout-rizin-fighting-federation

That source says that he didn't discuss it.

[tokeweed]

Anybody wanna take bets vs me that this event is not gonna happen (at the said date)?  I can take action up to 50 bucks split between different people at 10 bucks each minimum, or you can take the action entirely at 50/50 odds.

[Theb]

"exhibition of three, three-minute rounds." Sounds like MMA for me or at least a Kickboxing bout . Mayweather is technically fighting a rookie here with an outstanding record, if he pursued with fist only action on his terms/rules this fight won't be interesting as Mayweather will be the one dominating the game. Tenshin Nasukawa has a flawless record winning 27 of his bouts which 20 of those are KO wins, if this is Mayweather's way of entering the MMA industry he should blemish the record of this world champion, but I'll be happier if the Japanese wins the fight.

[carlfebz2]

"exhibition of three, three-minute rounds." Sounds like MMA for me or at least a Kickboxing bout . Mayweather is technically fighting a rookie here with an outstanding record, if he pursued with fist only action on his terms/rules this fight won't be interesting as Mayweather will be the one dominating the game. Tenshin Nasukawa has a flawless record winning 27 of his bouts which 20 of those are KO wins, if this is Mayweather's way of entering the MMA industry he should blemish the record of this world champion, but I'll be happier if the Japanese wins the fight.

With that arrangement then it would be most likely to be on MMA but its still not clear on what would be the rules when they are already inside the ring.I agree if it would be boxing based then its clear on whose gonna win.To make it interesting they would surely give a twist on how this bout will end up.Its really surprising that Mayweather do accept this fight and with just imagining the age gap and experience, no matter which field
Mayweather would play I do still see the edge in terms of experience and condition of the body.

[gabmen]

As far as i know, the young guy he's facing is a beast in kickboxing so you'd be foolish to think that it will cleanly have kickboxing rules. It's mayweather come on. The guy's used to playing his cards always at an advantage.

[justspare]

Really? A kickboxer? What will it be like for Mayweather, if he goes out to a kickboxing match and doesn't use his legs and just hopes that his system works against kickboxers as well than he is putting himself in danger of losing. If however the match is boxing and the kickboxer can't use his legs than it will be a too easy fight for Mayweather and he will take his opponent down very easily.

There is absolutely no win for Mayweather aside from making himself reminded to everyone again before a big fight against Pacquiao. I honestly believe this fight is insanely useless and will be either really boring to watch if its boxing or will be amazing to watch if its kickboxing but a bad decision for Mayweather if that happens. Kicks can definitely reach further than punches and would be really hard to get away from. Even a blocked kick hurts like hell compared to a blocked punch.

[Indamuck]

Really? A kickboxer? What will it be like for Mayweather, if he goes out to a kickboxing match and doesn't use his legs and just hopes that his system works against kickboxers as well than he is putting himself in danger of losing. If however the match is boxing and the kickboxer can't use his legs than it will be a too easy fight for Mayweather and he will take his opponent down very easily.

There is absolutely no win for Mayweather aside from making himself reminded to everyone again before a big fight against Pacquiao. I honestly believe this fight is insanely useless and will be either really boring to watch if its boxing or will be amazing to watch if its kickboxing but a bad decision for Mayweather if that happens. Kicks can definitely reach further than punches and would be really hard to get away from. Even a blocked kick hurts like hell compared to a blocked punch.

It's obvious that Money Mayweather is just after the payday.  This guy should already retire but his greed is too strong.  On social media Floyd is always showing off Jewels, money, supercars ,and other signs of wealth.  This fight is just another hyped marketing tactic to bring in viewers just like the McGregor fight.  Floyd is a great fighter but his personality rubs me the wrong way.

[milewilda]

As far as i know, the young guy he's facing is a beast in kickboxing so you'd be foolish to think that it will cleanly have kickboxing rules. It's mayweather come on. The guy's used to playing his cards always at an advantage.

After seeing some video fight highlights of that Kenshin Nasukawa, i cant really deny that he's a good striker but if we do base up on body build of Mayweather i dont believe that it would be effective.
Lets say they would tend to fight on Kickboxing rules i would still stick on Floyd no doubt on it. How much more if it would stick on boxing style that little boy will surely blow up his fragile chin.lol

[peter0425]

Really? A kickboxer? What will it be like for Mayweather, if he goes out to a kickboxing match and doesn't use his legs and just hopes that his system works against kickboxers as well than he is putting himself in danger of losing. If however the match is boxing and the kickboxer can't use his legs than it will be a too easy fight for Mayweather and he will take his opponent down very easily.

There is absolutely no win for Mayweather aside from making himself reminded to everyone again before a big fight against Pacquiao. I honestly believe this fight is insanely useless and will be either really boring to watch if its boxing or will be amazing to watch if its kickboxing but a bad decision for Mayweather if that happens. Kicks can definitely reach further than punches and would be really hard to get away from. Even a blocked kick hurts like hell compared to a blocked punch.

It's obvious that Money Mayweather is just after the payday.  This guy should already retire but his greed is too strong.  On social media Floyd is always showing off Jewels, money, supercars ,and other signs of wealth.  This fight is just another hyped marketing tactic to bring in viewers just like the McGregor fight.  Floyd is a great fighter but his personality rubs me the wrong way.

Money Mayweather really build his persona that way. Showing off and parading all his wealth that's why a lot of boxing fans hated him and wanted to see him lose. Regarding this fight, I don't think that the rule of MMA will be used, probably no leg kicks, no elbows, in short its going to be a pure boxing match. Lol. And we all know who's going to win anyways, so there's nothing to get excited for this match

[bbc.reporter]

"exhibition of three, three-minute rounds." Sounds like MMA for me or at least a Kickboxing bout . Mayweather is technically fighting a rookie here with an outstanding record, if he pursued with fist only action on his terms/rules this fight won't be interesting as Mayweather will be the one dominating the game. Tenshin Nasukawa has a flawless record winning 27 of his bouts which 20 of those are KO wins, if this is Mayweather's way of entering the MMA industry he should blemish the record of this world champion, but I'll be happier if the Japanese wins the fight.

It must be kickboxing only but with more restrictions for Floyd's protection hehehe. His legs will be the first and easiest target and he cannot kick well himself. I reckon they will make a no leg kick allowed rule and some other rules like head gear must be worn at all times.

This is nothing but another easy pay day for him.

[Maricel2017]

"exhibition of three, three-minute rounds." Sounds like MMA for me or at least a Kickboxing bout . Mayweather is technically fighting a rookie here with an outstanding record, if he pursued with fist only action on his terms/rules this fight won't be interesting as Mayweather will be the one dominating the game. Tenshin Nasukawa has a flawless record winning 27 of his bouts which 20 of those are KO wins, if this is Mayweather's way of entering the MMA industry he should blemish the record of this world champion, but I'll be happier if the Japanese wins the fight.

It must be kickboxing only but with more restrictions for Floyd's protection hehehe. His legs will be the first and easiest target and he cannot kick well himself. I reckon they will make a no leg kick allowed rule and some other rules like head gear must be worn at all times.

This is nothing but another easy pay day for him.

Yes i think the reason of comeback fight of Mayweather is the money, we all know that he is very rich athlete but for him his money is not enough or he is not contented with, by the way this fight would be more interested because this is new for Floyd and he's skill on defense would be tested in this fight.

[nydiacaskey01]

Take a look at Tenshin Nasukawa knockout highlights https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8gRelZE28Y4
If fight is MMA rules I guess Tenshin Nasukawa has the speed and stamina
if its Kickboxing rules, Tenshin Nasukawa has the edge since his skills is more on Kickboxing
if its pure boxing rules Floyd Mayweather may have the advantage on this since he is a boxer but we don't know if Tenshin Nasukawa can adapt and adjust quickly.

[YuginKadoya]

I really think this fight will be in favor with Mayweather were his opponent will have a handicap and cannot use any kick moves, And we are all aware of whos gonna win this fight just like what happen in the Mcgregor and Mayweather fight it is clear as day that Mayweather will be in favor with this fight, But if the officials would allow Tenshin Nasukawa would certainly be a kickboxer in the fight he would have a high probability to win.

[Terence Crawford]

Has anyone seen a bookie taking odds for this fight?