Watch Floyd Mayweather Knock Out Tenshin Nasukawa in First Round

This is what happens when a tiny kickboxer gets in the ring to box an equally as tiny, past-his-prime boxer.

December 31, 2018

Floyd Mayweather, Tenshin Nasukawa — Image via Getty/Etsuo Hara
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First it was on, then it was off before going back on, likely because Floyd Mayweather would be boxing Japanese kickboxer Tenshin Nasukawa. Floyd turns 42 this February, but he's not just any old retired boxer. He's undefeated, and considered by some to be the best pound for pound boxer all time. He's also awful, but that doesn't change his boxing bona fides.

Tenshin is a professional kickboxer in Japan, and he's only 20 years old. It's an impressive resume for one so young, but it doesn't matter in a boxing ring against a legend, even an odious one who is well past his prime. That's why Tenshin was knocked down three times before finally conceding in the first round.

"It was all about entertainment," Floyd said after the brief fight. "We had fun. Tokyo, you were amazing, but I'm still retired. We're both still undefeated. Tenshin is still a champion and a great fighter."

Floyd claims to have earned $9 million for the exhibition, bragging that it was a million dollars a minute for a "walk thru."

It all went down on New Year's Eve (yeah, they're ahead of America) in Japan's Saitama Super Arena as part of RIZIN's MMA card. The exhibition was composed of three, three-minute rounds, but then it only lasted one. However, Tenshin was Harrison Bergeron, unable to use the kickboxing skills that prompted the fight in the first place.

And if you're wondering why Floyd isn't fighting Khabib Nurmagomedov any time soon, it's the boxing caveat Floyd first put on a Conor McGregor, before unloading on a fighter, Tenshin, robbed of his skills. Mayweather remains a coward, though a profitable one.