- Title: Boxing - Mayweather to fight in Japan on New Year's Eve
- Date: 5th November 2018
- Summary: NEW YORK, NEW YORK, UNITED STATES (FILE - JULY 13, 2017) (REUTERS) ***WARNING CONTAINS FLASH PHOTOGRAPHY*** MAYWEATHER ON STAGE AND THROWING MONEY IN THE AIR MAYWEATHER SHOUTING NEXT TO MMA FIGHTER CONOR MCGREGOR LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, UNITED STATES (FILE - MARCH, 2015) (REUTERS) MAYWEATHER POSING NEXT TO FILIPINO BOXER MANNY PACQUIAO LAS VEGAS, NEVADA, UNITED STATES (FILE - MAY, 2015) (REUTERS) MAYWEATHER STEPPING ONTO SCALES
- Embargoed: 19th November 2018 04:14
- Keywords: boxing Japan Tenshin Nasukawa Rizin UFC Tokyo Saitama Mayweather mixed martial arts MMA
- Location: TOKYO, JAPAN / LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA AND LAS VEGAS, NEVADA, UNITED STATES
- City: TOKYO, JAPAN / LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA AND LAS VEGAS, NEVADA, UNITED STATES
- Country: Japan
- Topics: Boxing,Sport
- Reuters ID: LVA00295894QN
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: Floyd Mayweather Jr. said he is ready for any challenge as he announced a fight to be held on New Year’s Eve in Japan without being able to specify what format or rules the fight would follow.
In a shock move, the American former world boxing champion announced on Monday (November 5) he would fight Japanese 20-year-old kickboxer Tenshin Nasukawa on the card for mixed martial arts (MMA) promotions company RIZIN Fighting Federation in Saitama on Dec. 31.
Mayweather, 41, has never fought professionally in mixed martial arts and told Reuters it was yet to be decided whether the fight would be a pure boxing bout, MMA or some other mixture of martial arts.
"I will speak with my team and I am pretty sure we are going to be on the same page," Mayweather told Reuters in Tokyo on Saturday (November 3) when pressed on the fight rules.
Mayweather, who has held multiple boxing world titles in five different weight categories and remains undefeated in his career, is confident he will come out on top. His last fight was in the boxing ring in 2017, winning by a technical knockout over MMA world champion Conor McGregor to extend his boxing record to 50-0.
Nasukawa is contracted to RIZIN and competes in their championships in both MMA and pure kickboxing. He has won all four of his MMA fights. - Copyright Holder: FILE REUTERS (CAN SELL)
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