Floyd Mayweather will close out 2018 with some kind of a bang.
The boxing legend will fight Tenshin Nasukawa on December 31 at the Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan, the Rizin Fight Federation announced Sunday night. The matchup will pit a retired undefeated boxer against an undefeated kickboxing sensation of the present.
RIZIN FF just announced that Floyd Mayweather Jr. will fight undefeated sensation Tenshin Nasukawa on 12/31 at the Saitama Super Arena. The press conference is live right now: https://t.co/NgAahdtrwT
— Ariel Helwani (@arielhelwani) November 5, 2018
However, the two camps haven’t determined the rules under which the fight will take place. Mayweather has teased a foray into mixed martial arts in recent months, but his fight against Nasukawa is unlikely to be under MMA rules, according to ESPN’s Ariel Helwani.
Regarding the rules and weight, Rizin chairman Nobuyuki Sakakibara said “we still have some more work ahead of us.” Everyone I’ve talked to said they’d be shocked if it’s MMA.
— Ariel Helwani (@arielhelwani) November 5, 2018
It turns out Manny Pacquiao was right last month when he revealed Mayweather’s upcoming fight plans. Mayweather will return to the limelight with his fight against Nasukawa, and the bout likely will herald a busy 2019 that also might feature a rematch with Pacquiao.
