Floyd Mayweather vs. Tenshin Nasukawa Back On? RIZIN Expect 'Clearer Announcement'

Floyd Mayweather's fight with RIZIN star Tenshin Nasukawa could be back on as the Japanese promotion expect to make a "clearer announcement" soon.

RIZIN announced in a press conference last week in Japan that Mayweather would come out of retirement once again to take on Nasukawa at RIZIN 14 on Dec. 31, though no further details surrounding the fight were announced.

However, Mayweather would later deny having any official fight agreement with the promotion and in a lengthy social media post, revealed how he and his team were duped by RIZIN.

"First and foremost, I want it to be clear that I, Floyd Mayweather, never agreed to an official bout with Tenshin Nasukawa," Mayweather wrote. "In fact (with all due respect) I have never heard of him until this recent trip to Japan."

RIZIN have finally broken their silence on the issue as they have since apologized for the confusion and claim to be "holding discussions towards carrying out the match based on the original contract" with Mayweather.

“At a press conference held on November 5, 2018, we at RIZIN announced that the RIZIN 14 fight card at the Saitama Super Arena on December 31, 2018, would be headlined by Floyd Mayweather vs. Tenshin Nasukawa," RIZIN said in a statement, as per MMASucka. "However, shortly after this announcement, Mr. Mayweather himself made an announcement through social media. This message seemed to be insisting that the match had been canceled, and we sincerely apologize for this confusion.”

“RIZIN Chairman, Nobuyuki Sakakibara, is currently holding discussions towards carrying out the match based on the original contract between our promotion and Mr. Mayweather. This based on the basic agreement we initially did have with Mr. Mayweather. We hope to have a clearer announcement next week. In truth, we would like to make a clearer announcement now. Unfortunately, as of writing, we are not in the position to report our current negotiating situation to you all. Thus, this statement will concern out ongoing developments. Sadly, we are afraid to inform you all that we will be needing more time. Again, we sincerely apologize for the confusion and concern this has been causing.”

It is not 100 percent clear if a fight with Nasukawa is still possible but based on RIZIN's statement, they seem to imply it is, at least based on their "original agreement" with Mayweather.

Mayweather previously claimed he was asked "to participate in a nine minute exhibition of three rounds" so it could be that his fight with Nasukawa still goes ahead but is not an official fight.

However, with Mayweather also claiming the original agreement was that it wouldn't be televised, there will be confusion as to whether a newly-agreed fight, if against Nasukawa, will be televised at all, particularly as it was slated to take place on the RIZIN 14 card.

Regardless, more details can be expected from RIZIN later this week.