Floyd
Mayweather earned himself a handy New Year’s bonus on Monday as he returned to
the ring with a first-round stoppage of Tenshin Nasukawa in a farcical
exhibition fight in Japan.
The
kickboxer— banned from kicking in this bout— was left in tears as Mayweather
danced a merry jig, having stalked his opponent and sent him flying across the
canvas like a rag-doll.
“We had
fun, first I want to thank God for this unbelievable turnout, this event, my
team. Tokyo, Japan you guys are amazing I want to say thank you,” Mayweather
said after the fight. The 41-year-old was not in prime shape but he still
proved far too strong for Nasukawa, 21 years his junior, in the nine-minute
scrap at the Saitama Super Arena just outside Tokyo.
He wore
a big smile for much of the first minute as the two fighters felt each other
out amid a raucous atmosphere inside the 37,000-seater arena.
But
there was little friendliness in his work thereafter as, left and right hooks
sent the younger, smaller and lighter man down and across the canvas.
The
former five-weight world champion, who won all 50 of his professional bouts,
retired from boxing in the wake of his victory over Conor McGregor in August
2017.
That win
took his career earnings beyond $1billion and on Monday he took on another MMA
fighter for yet another handsome payday.
Nasukawa,
20, is a kickboxer by trade but against Mayweather on the outskirts of Tokyo he
was banned from using his feet over the three rounds of exhibition action.
And when
it came down to a battle of fists, there was little by way of a contest. First
a left hand sent Nasukawa to the floor before a right hand to the body was
followed by one to the head and the Japanese fighter was left in a heap in the
corner. When the action resumed, a left hook sent him flying across the ring
once more before the towel came in.
The
Japanese fighter had previously won all 32 of his combat sports contests, and
Mayweather stressed: ‘We are both still undefeated, I did this to entertain the
fans in Japan, they wanted this to happen and I said why not, Tenshin is still
a great champion, I am still retired.
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