Floyd Mayweather earned $9 million in less than 3 minutes by taking down Japanese kickboxer Tenshin Nasakuwa in the first round of bizarre exhibition fight
- Floyd Mayweather defeated Japanese kickboxer Tenshin Nasakuwa in the first round of their exhibition on New Year's Eve.
- The fight was the conclusion of a bizarre build-up that featured Mayweather repeatedly claiming it was off, and then back on again.
- Mayweather showed a much more aggressive side of his style than fans had seen in recent outings, knocking down Nasakuwa three times before his corner threw in the towel.
- While Mayweather claims he's still retired, it's tough to imagine him turning down another fight if the money was right.
Floyd Mayweather defeated Japanese kickboxer Tenshin Nasakuwa in the first round of their exhibition on New Year's Eve, bringing an end to yet another bizarre saga of his late career.
The fight was first announced in November, with Mayweather and fight promotion RIZIN both notably vague on the rules of the exhibition. Mayweather would be fighting a kickboxer, but it was unclear whether his opponent would be allowed to kick.
Then, Mayweather called the fight off just as quickly as it was announced. He deleted all social media posts about the match and left some to wonder if the whole thing was a sham.
But the fight would go on, and on Monday night in Japan, Mayweather made his opponent look foolish. He knocked Nasakuwa down three times in the first round and forced his corner to throw in the towel before making it through three minutes of action.
Mayweather reportedly earned more than $9 million for his 140 seconds in the ring, showing a much more aggressive fighting style than we've seen from his recent fights. He likely felt safe in the knowledge that his opponent was hamstrung by not being allowed to use one of his most devastating skills in the boxing-rules bout.
"I want to say thank you to Tenshin. This don't go on our record," Mayweather said after the fight, according to the Evening Standard. "We are both still undefeated. He is a great champion and a great fighter. I am still retired, I don't look to come back to boxing. I came back for entertainment for the people of Japan."
While Mayweather claims he's still retired, after this bizarre exhibition and his constant teasing of more fights against the likes of Khabib Nurmagomedov and other mixed martial artists, there's no telling what the man nicknamed "Money" will do next if the price is right.