'I want to sincerely apologize to my fans': Mayweather annuls Japan MMA fight
Floyd Mayweather Jr has made a sensational u-turn on his fight with Japanese MMA kickboxer Tenshin Nasukawa, announced just a few days ago, claiming 'arrangements were made without his approval.'
Mayweather, 41, shocked the sports world when on Monday his return to the combat sports arena was announced in Japan by the Rizin Fighting Federation in a news conference at which the boxer was present.
READ MORE: Floyd Mayweather Jr. announces NYE fight with Japanese MMA promotion Rizin
But that was not the last surprise from the legendary former pound for pound king. On Wednesday the Michigan state native took to social media to shoot down the "misleading information" about the bout.
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.
Below you can read the full statement from Mayweather.
"Now that I am back on U.S. soil after a long and disappointing trip to Tokyo, I now have the time to address you, my fans and the media in regards to the upcoming event on December 31st that was recently announced. First and foremost, I want it to be clear that I, Floyd Mayweather, never agreed to an official bout with Tenshin Nasukawa. In fact (with all due respect) I have never heard of him until this recent trip to Japan.
"Ultimately, I was asked to participate in a 9 minute exhibition of 3 rounds with an opponent selected by the "Rizen (sic) Fighting Federation". What I was originally informed of by Brent Johnson of "One Entertainment" was that this was to be an exhibition put on for a small group of wealthy spectators for a very large fee. 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.
"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. For the sake of the several fans and attendees that flew in from all parts of the world to attend this past press conference, I was hesitant to create a huge disturbance by combating what was being said and for that I am truly sorry. I am a retired boxer that earns an unprecedented amount of money, globally, for appearances, speaking engagements and occasional small exhibitions."
