Boxing superstar Floyd Mayweather Jr and a Japanese kickboxer half his age will be aiming to knock each other out next month, despite the matchup being an exhibition, the fight’s Japanese promoter said yesterday.
The bout between Mayweather and Tenshin Nasukawa, first announced earlier this month, was abruptly scrapped by the US boxer over what Rizin Fighting Federation CEO Nobuyuki Sakakibara called a “misunderstanding.”
However, now it is back on for New Year’s Eve.
“It will be a nonofficial bout. It won’t be on record. So it’s an exhibition match,” Sakakibara told reporters in Tokyo after returning from talks with Mayweather in Los Angeles. “But at worst it’s not going to be a sparring... They will fight aiming to knock out.”
The Mayweather side had been confused with the status of the bout, as it was unclear if it would be an official fight, he said.
Asked if the bout could be canceled again, Sakakibara said: “I don’t think there will be a cancellation, unless unforeseen circumstances, such as extraordinary natural phenomenon, occur.”
He confirmed that the fight would be an orthodox boxing bout without kicking, which would be a disadvantage for Nasukawa, an unbeaten kickboxer.
“But I want him to pull off something like a miracle,” Sakakibara said.
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