40°F
weather icon Cloudy

Floyd Mayweather to fight Japanese kickboxer in December

TOKYO — Floyd Mayweather is planning on fighting Japanese kickboxer Tenshin Nasukawa on Dec. 31 in Saitama, north of Tokyo.

Mayweather is 50-0 in his boxing career but has never fought professionally under MMA rules, although he did have a lucrative win over MMA fighter Conor McGregor last year.

Japanese promoter the RIZIN Fighting Federation on Monday said rules and the weight class for the bout have not been set.

“We still have some work to do,” said Nobuyuki Sakakibara, the RIZIN chairman.

The 20-year-old Nasukawa, speaking at a news conference alongside Mayweather, called it “probably the biggest event of my life so far.”

He also vowed to end Mayweather’s long string of victories.

“Nobody has defeated my opponent in the past, and I would like to be the man who makes history,” Nasukawa said, speaking through an interpreter. “My punch can change history. And I will show that to you. So please stay tuned.”

Mayweather sat calmly and then praised his young opponent.

“I think he’s young, very strong and very fast and he undefeated so it’s obvious he’s doing something right.

Don't miss the big stories. Like us on Facebook.
MORE STORIES
THE LATEST
UFC-occupied buildings in Las Vegas sell for $23.6M

The off-market sale was brokered by Colliers and features two buildings which are 70 percent occupied by the Ultimate Fighting Championship.

UFC reaches $375M settlement in class-action lawsuit

The UFC reached another settlement with one of the two class-action litigants, agreeing Thursday to pay the former fighters $375 million after a previous agreement was thrown out by a Nevada district judge.