Floyd Mayweather vs. Tenshin Nasukawa? 'Money' Denies Agreeing To Official Fight

Future Hall of Famer Floyd Mayweather denied agreeing to an official fight with Tenshin Nasukawa and claims he and his team were "blindsided" by RIZIN, the Japanese promotion that hosts MMA and kickboxing events.

Having previously hinted at taking part in a December boxing event in Tokyo, Mayweather appeared in a press conference Monday where he looked set to take on RIZIN star Nasukawa, although no further details were revealed such as the ruleset.

However, on Wednesday, Mayweather took to social media to explain how he was conned by RIZIN and that the fight was not happening.

"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 regard to the upcoming event on December 31st that was recently announced," Mayweather wrote. "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 [RIZIN] Fighting Federation. What I was originally informed of (it) 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," he said.

Mayweather added that he and his team should have immediately put a stop to the press conference but were hesitant to create a huge disturbance.

"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," he added. "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," Mayweather said.

It was expected that Mayweather would face Nasukawa while Manny Pacquiao would face Adrien Broner, with the two then having their lucrative rematch in the spring of next year.

While the Mayweather fight is seemingly off, Pacquiao is still expected to defend his World Boxing Association (Regular) welterweight title against Broner in January.

Both fighters fought an underwhelming fight in May 2015 which saw Mayweather come away with a unanimous decision win, although Pacquiao was carrying a shoulder injury during the fight.

Mayweather last competed in August last year in a lucrative boxing match with former UFC lightweight champion Conor McGregor in a fight that grossed 4.3 million pay-per-view buys. Both fighters were reported to have earned nine-figure paydays from the event with "Money" reportedly earning over $300 million before retiring for the third time.