Mayweather vs. Tenshin fight announced for RIZIN, ruleset unknown

Legendary boxer Floyd Mayweather is coming back to combat sports to fight … 20-year-old phenom Tenshin Nasukawa in Japan.

Floyd Mayweather is headed to Japan.

The undefeated boxing legend and former world champion is returning to action to face Japanese kickboxing sensation Tenshin Nasukawa at Rizin FF 14, the promotion’s New Year’s Eve show, which takes place Dec. 31 at Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan.

MMASucka.com and BJPenn.com first reported the matchup Sunday night. Rizin FF officials announced the news soon after at a press conference.

As of now, the rule-set under which Mayweather and Nasukawa will compete has yet to be determined, but Rizin FF president Nobuyuki Sakakibara said that the bout will be under “special rules.” Mayweather, of course, is a longtime boxer, while Nasukawa has mostly fought in kickboxing, plus four times in MMA. The weight for the contest is also undetermined.

”I want to continue to build my relationship with Money Team Tokyo,” Mayweather said at the press conference (transcript via MMAMania.com). “I want to continue coming over here and bringing other fighters over here so my company can continue to grow and Rizin can continue to grow. I would love to continue to work with Rizin because Rizin is an unbelievable company, and my company, we’ve been making some huge fights happen in the U.S., but we look forward to taking the Mayweather Promotions banner and the TMT banner worldwide.”

Mayweather hasn’t competed since an August 2017 win over former two-division UFC champion Conor McGregor, which extended his boxing record to 50-0.

Nasukawa is coming off an entertaining kickboxing win over former UFC flyweight title challenger Kyoji Horiguchi at Rizin FF 13, the biggest win of his young career. The 20-year-old phenom is one of the most popular fighters in Japan.

Mayweather vs. Nasukawa will headline the event. No other bouts have been announced for the card.