Floyd Mayweather confirms Tenshin Nasukawa WILL take place…with no kicking allowed
The 50-0 boxer had previously taken to Instagram to announce the fight was off - but in a change of events 'Money' confirmed his comeback in Japan will take place
FLOYD MAYWEATHER has sensationally confirmed his fight with Japanese kickboxer Tenshin Nasukawa is back on.
Mayweather shocked the fight world when it was announced he would be fighting the undefeated 20-year-old Nasukawa on New Years Eve in Tokyo, Japan.
Mystery surrounded the fight as although it was confirmed Japanese MMA promotion RIZIN Fight Federation would promote the contest, the rules, weight, and rounds had yet to be finalised.
Before the curious questions could all be answered Mayweather took to Instagram to call off the fight - remarkably claiming he ‘never agreed’ to fight Nasukawa in a televised bout in the first place.
But this already bizarre story takes another turn as Mayweather confirmed to the fight will take place - with the undefeated American also giving details of the fight rules.
"We're gonna make it happen,” Mayweather said.
"Rules? It's gonna be a little boxing exhibition. No kicking. I'm moving around with the guy for nine minutes, and of course it's gonna be the highest paid exhibition ever.
"It's a no-brainer. Just because I'm retired from boxing, I still make appearances worldwide and make a ton of money."
Mayweather has not fought since he defeated UFC star Conor McGregor in August 2017, in a fight that generated an estimated $550 million with 4.4million pay-per-views sold.
And now Mayweather prepares to face a second consecutive southpaw MMA fighter in Nasukawa - who is undefeated as a kickboxer winning all 27 of his fights, with 26 knockouts.
Mayweather revealed in his lengthy Instagram post addressing the fight that he was approached to participate in an ‘exhibition’ for a ‘small group of wealthy spectators for a very large fee’.
The 41-year-old claimed in the social media post the fight was originally scheduled to be private and not televised.
Mayweather said: “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.”
Mayweather was linked with a rematch against Manny Pacquiao for December 2018, also in Tokyo Japan.
Pacquiao was defeated by Mayweather on points in May 2015 and has called for a rematch ever since - citing he had an injured shoulder in their first fight.
However, Pacquiao will instead fight former friend of Mayweather's Adrien Broner in January.
Pacquiao claimed after his fight with Broner, and once Mayweather has finished his business with Nasukawa, they will be free to rematch.