Well, so much for that.
Three days after Floyd Mayweather appeared at a news conference in Japan to announce an upcoming fight against 20-year-old kickboxer Tenshin Nasukawa, the 41-year-old boxer wrote on Instagram Wednesday that he "never agreed to an official bout."
Mayweather wrote in the post that the fight was pitched to him as "an exhibition put on for a small group of wealthy spectators" against an opponent who would be selected by the Rizin Fighting Federation. He wrote that the fight was to consist of only three rounds of three minutes apiece.
"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," Mayweather wrote on Instagram. "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.
"I want to sincerely apologize to my fans for the very misleading information that was announced during this press conference and I can assure you that I too was completely blindsided by the arrangements that were being made without my consent nor approval."
Mayweather also reiterated that he is retired from competitive boxing, describing himself as "a retired boxer that earns an unprecedented amount of money, globally, for appearances, speaking engagements and occasional small exhibitions."
The post marked a stark about-face for Mayweather, who was on hand for the news conference announcing the fight. He said then that the details for the fight were still being finalized but he and Nasukawa were "giving the people something they've never seen before." The Rizin Fighting Federation had already announced a date and location for the fight.
The RFF had not acknowledged or issued a response to Mayweather's post on any of its official platforms as of early Wednesday afternoon.
Contact Tom Schad at tschad@usatoday.com or on Twitter @Tom_Schad.
Read Again https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/boxing/2018/11/07/floyd-mayweather-says-he-never-agreed-official-bout-japan/1921725002/Bagikan Berita Ini
0 Response to "'Completely blindsided' Floyd Mayweather says he never agreed to official bout in Japan"
Post a Comment