This past Sunday, Floyd Mayweather Jr. joined Tenshin Nasukawa for a press conference in Tokyo, Japan to announce what seemed to be Mayweather’s next fight against the young and undefeated kickboxer, Nasukawa.
Although Mayweather is officially retired, he’s come out of retirement numerous times for big-money fights and this just seemed to be the latest money-grab for Money May.
Both fighters spoke at length about the scheduled December 31 clash, but after all the quotes and photos one major point was still unclear–what kind of fight would Mayweather be taking against the 20-year-old kickboxer?
As many of you may know by now–unless you’ve been living without the internet–Mayweather released a statement on Wednesday denouncing his involvement with the Rizin promotion and stating that he never agreed to a fight against Nasukawa.
“First and foremost, I want it to be clear that I, Floyd Mayweather, never agreed to an official bout with Tenshin Nasukawa,” said Mayweather via an Instagram post. “In fact (with all due respect) I have never heard of him until this recent trip to Japan.”
Odd to say the least.
Although the Nasukawa fight won’t be going down, a more lucrative fight that will surely peak peoples interest is already being discussed according to CNN. That fight is Khabib Nurmagomedov versus Mayweather.
But, according to My Top Sportsbooks, it’s going to be extremely hard to make a fight between Mayweather and Khabib.
Dana White is staunchly against Khabib undertaking a Conor McGregor-style switch to boxing, and Mayweather is not going to battle Khabib in the Octagon, given that he’s over 40, has zero experience in MMA and guards his undefeated record like Cerberus guarding the gates of Hades.
But Mayweather always seems to have a trick up his sleeve.
“Last time Dana White spoke, he said me and Conor McGregor won’t be in a boxing match,” said Mayweather to CNN. “I think Dana White is a great person, a great guy, but we don’t know what the future holds. Sometimes I say I’m retired but guess what–I come right back.”
Mayweather would obviously be the prohibitive favorite in a boxing ring–in the range of -2000 vs +900 for Khabib–but Nurmagomedov would be even bigger chalk of they met in the Octagon, likely opening around -2500 or shorter.
Whether or not this fight goes down will probably come down to Mayweather having all the advantages, because according to him he’s still making a pretty penny just sitting on the sidelines.
“I am a retired boxer that earns an unprecedented amount of money,” said Mayweather. “Globally, for appearances, speaking engagements and occasional small exhibitions.”
Do you want to see Mayweather face Khabib? If they fight in a boxing match, would Khabib stand a chance?
Header photo by Esther Lin/Showtime
