The mysterious RIZIN 14 showdown between undefeated boxing legend Floyd Mayweather and 20-year-old kickboxing sensation Tenshin Nasukawa is apparently back on. According to Mayweather, however, it will merely be a boxing exhibition… just three, three-minute rounds of “moving around” for yet another mammoth payday.
While Floyd Mayweather seems to think this fight with Tenshin Nasukawa will be little more than a light sparring session, Bellator star and MMA analyst Chael Sonnen is imploring the pugilist to be a little more discerning.
“There is some reason that he is continuing to press the narrative of an exhibition, which would make no sense to do by the world of promotion,” Sonnen said recently on his Beyond the Fight podcast. “He’s demoting what it is he’s getting ready to go out to do.”
“There is a chance the promoters have sold him on the idea and even put it in the contract, ‘hey this is an exhibition, this is just for fun, you’re going to go in and move around with this guy.’ When he gets to Japan, where he does not have a commission, he’s quickly going to find out the other guy was not told that. The other guy is coming out to fight. The other guy is trying to come to win and knock him out.”
“If he thinks, even if he has a legally written contract that it’s going to be an exhibition, meaning at the end of three rounds or at the end of nine minutes they both smile and hug and walk away, he’s wrong.”
Chael Sonnen added that Tenshin Nasukawa will almost certainly be announced the winner over Floyd Mayweather, effectively destroying the boxer’s unblemished record.
“They will 100% announce a winner that night, no matter what they’ve told Floyd,” he said. “At the end of this contest, if Floyd does not get the jump on this guy for the better part of three rounds, they will raise the other guys hand, 100%. Let Floyd go to the media, let Floyd sue them in court… they will not care.”
“Mark your calendars and place your bets,” he said. “Floyd Mayweather will be 50-1 after this event.”
What do you make of this bizarre New Years eve contest between Floyd Mayweather and Tenshin Nasukawa? Is Chael Sonnen right?
This article first appeared on BJPENN.COM on 11/19/2018.