The former pound-for-pound great took to Instagram Wednesday afternoon to say he won’t fight Tenshin Nasukawa on New Year’s Eve in the main event of Rizin 14 from the Saitama Arena in Tokyo.
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Mayweather’s statement comes off the heels of a press conference late Sunday evening when he sat with Rizin Fighting Federation officials and said he would be taking on the highly talented 20-year-old kickboxer. The rule set for the fight, including weight class and how many rounds, wasn’t announced.
A post shared by Floyd Mayweather (@floydmayweather) on Nov 7, 2018 at 10:53am PST
“It has always been a goal of mine to go outside of the U.S. as a professional,” Mayweather said at the presser. “I just want to entertain. I’ll speak with my team and get with Rizin to come up with a great idea. It’s all about entertainment and that’s what we want to do for the people.”
In a short email exchange Monday evening with Sporting News, Stephen Espinoza, the president of sports and event programming for Showtime, which has been the broadcast home for the last seven fights of Mayweather’s career, said initial talks had begun to air the contest.
“We’ve had some preliminary conversations, but we’re in a holding pattern until more of the event details are finalized,” Espinoza told SN.
SN has reached out to Rizin for comment.
