Floyd Mayweather vs Tenshin Nasukawa: American makes light work of kickboxing sensation

Floyd Mayweather beat kickboxing prodigy Tenshin Nasukawa

Mayweather beats McGregor

Floyd Mayweather made another comeback from retirement to easily beat Japanese kickboxing sensation Tenshin Nasukawa in a bizarre one-off exhibition match in Tokyo.

The undefeated boxer won in his first match since beating UFC star Conor McGregor by unanimous decision in August 2017.

Mayweather’s decision to return to the ring and take part in a total mismatch attracted criticism from those within the sport, including Amir Khan who said his “jokes fights” are “hurting boxing”.

The American billed the fight as the “highest paid exhibition ever”, but the event, which place on the RZIN 14 MMA card, will not go on either fighter’s record. Re-live the action below:

PREVIEW

TV and live stream information

The event will not be shown live on TV in the UK, but fans can order the show live on FITE TV for $24.99 here.

When is it?

The fight tops a packed undercard in Japan and the two are expected to begin their ring walks before midday in the UK.

Rules

The exhibition fight will be contested over three, three minute rounds under boxing rules, Rizin confirmed last month.

Both Mayweather and Nasukawa will both wear eight ounce Rizin gloves and the result will not go on either fighter’s boxing or MMA records.

How much will Mayweather earn?

Mayweather revealed on Instagram that he expects to make $9m from the fight, working out at $1m per-minute of boxing. “What if I told you I was making $9,000,000 for 9 minutes of sparring in Tokyo Japan would you do the same if you were me?” he wrote. “I like to call it a 9 minute walk thru.”

Undercard

Tenshin Nasukawa vs Floyd Mayweather Jr.

Kyoji Horiguchi vs Darrion Caldwell

Kanna Asakura vs Ayaka Hamasaki

Rena Kubota vs Samantha Jean-Francois

Yusuke Yachi vs Johnny Case

Ulka Sasaki vs Manel Kape

Yuki Motoya vs Justin Scoggins

Nobumitsu Osawa vs Tofik Musaev

Jiri Prochazka vs Brandon Halsey

Justyna Haba vs Shinju Nozawa Auclair

Damien Brown vs Daron Cruickshank

Mika Nagano vs Miyuu Yamamoto

Gabi Garcia vs Barbara Nepomuceno

Kazuyuki Miyata vs Erson Yamamoto

[31 December 2018 10:51 · Jack Watson]

Welcome!

Good morning and welcome to The Independent's live coverage of Floyd Mayweather vs Tenshin Nasukawa. Yep...this is happening.

The fight is due to start between now and midday, although there are rumours circling that Mayweather is running late...

Anyway, it's fair to say not everybody is as excited for this fight as you may imagine, as Amir Khan explains.

[31 December 2018 11:00 · Jack Watson]

Running late

It has emerged that RIZIN officials are still waiting for Mayweather's arrival, with some reports suggesting he could be up to an hour away from the Saitama Super Arena!

Elsewhere,  Jiri Prochazka defeats Brandon Halsey via a first round submission and Gabi Garcia was beaten Barbara Nepomuceno in a brutal end to a very one-sided contest.

Next up is Ayaka Hamasaki vs Kanna Asakura in the final fight before the joint-main event between Kyoji Horiguchi and Darrion Caldwell.

[31 December 2018 11:11 · Jack Watson]

Japanese underdog looking for a real fight

“I can change the world with my fist...I want to fight with confidence."

[31 December 2018 11:12 · Jack Watson]

'Who are ya?'

The lowdown on Mayweather's 50th opponent

[31 December 2018 11:25 · Jack Watson]

Another intermission

Get comfortable, everyone. We're set for another intermission in the undercard, which is believed to be unscheduled. 

Still to come is Ayaka Hamasaki vs Kanna Asakura and Kyoji Horiguchi vs Darrion Caldwell before Mayweather and Nasukawa meet in the ring.

[31 December 2018 12:20 · Jack Watson]

He's on his way!

Leonard Ellerbe, the CEO of Mayweather Promotions, has confirmed the boxer is finally on his way to the arena.

"Headed to the arena, hotel lobby flooded, tv cameras everywhere, fans chanting, omg this sh*t it lit!!!!!!," he said on Twitter.

[31 December 2018 12:49 · Jack Watson]

Exclusive interview

You probably have just long enough to read out exclusive interview with Joshua Buatsi, where he recalls why he turned down working with Mayweather, Actually, given we are already about three hours over schedule, you can probably take your time with this one.

[31 December 2018 12:51 · Jack Watson]

BREAKING: MAN TURNS UP TO WORK

He's finally here! Floyd Mayweather is in the building and we can restart this never-ending countdown to this meaningless exhibition fight. Happy New Year everyone, by the way!

[31 December 2018 13:05 · Jack Watson]

Not long to go

Mayweather is getting his hands wrapped ahead of his showdown with Nasukawa. It would seem we are 30-45 minutes away from things starting, but given how this event is going, that could be another couple of hours...

[31 December 2018 13:14 · Jack Watson]

One fight to go

Ayaka Mamsaki becomes the Rizin Super Atomweight Champion by beating Kanna Asakura with an armbar submission.