Floyd Mayweather and his team were reportedly "completely derailed" and "blindsided" when it was announced that he'd be fighting Tenshin Nasukawa in an official bout in Tokyo on New Year's Eve.
Earlier this week it was revealed that the retired boxing legend would be coming out of retirement for a December 31st fight against the undefeated kickboxing champ, but Floyd says that's not what he originally agreed to. Despite posing for photos with Nasukawa at a press conference in Japan and saying that the two sides were working on a rule set for the bout, Mayweather claims he was duped and had only agreed to participate in a 9 minute exhibition of 3 rounds "for a small group of wealthy spectators for a very large fee."
Mayweather explained his side of the story, and seemingly pulled out of the fight, in a lengthy post on social media which you can read in full below:
"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."
"Ultimately, I was asked to participate in a 9 minute exhibition of 3 rounds with an opponent selected by the 'Rizen 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."