Floyd Mayweather to fight Tenshin Nasukawa in Japan

Greetings fellow members.

Its unusual for me to post in the sports forums, but rumours and speculation on the internet, specifically on combat sports focused YouTube channels and websites, have been buzzing over recent weeks, about an event in Japan, set to take place on New Years Eve.

Floyd Mayweather will fight Tenshin Nasukawa, a young Japanese martial arts prodigy, who has been dominating using a variant form of kickboxing in the Rizin promotion. If you type his name into YouTube, you will find highlight reels, and videos of his fights, which, if you happen to like that sort of thing, I highly recommend giving a watch.

The buzz around this event started about three weeks ago, with the initial announcement of an event between the two fighters, during a press conference in which Money Mayweather seemed entirely bewildered and failed to communicate effectively. Days later, it was revealed by Mayweather that he felt he had been misled as to what the promoter was suggesting, and appeared to pull out from the event altogether. Then, a few days ago, the fight is back on, and we get told that essentially, the rule set will be pure boxing, no kicks at all, and only nine minutes of action to be had.

Now then... I have some issues with this.

First of all, like many folk who will be reading this, and indeed many people who follow boxing rather than any of the more complete martial arts, I had NO idea who Tenshin Nasukawa was, until I read about this fight being on the cards a couple of weeks ago. I looked him up, and what I saw in his highlight reels and his full fight footage, impressed the living hell out of me. His reaction speed, his movement speed, his accuracy and his intelligence, as well as his agility and creativity, combine to produce an improbable fighter with massive potential, who, to see him fight most of his opponents (much more experienced kickboxers, Muai Thai champions from the Lumpinee stadium, TKD practitioners and so on), looks for all the world as if he could dodge bullets and lazer beams as easily as the kicks and punches he deflects or simply evades. His attacks are clean and measured, but also rapid and savage, and executed with an effortless flair. He is, quite simply, phenomenal to watch, and I would have to assume an absolute bastard to fight against, even for seasoned campaigners and masters of their art. He is a supercomputer of a fighter, always seeming several steps ahead of his opponents.

And of course, no one reading this with any interest in the sport of boxing or pugilism in general, needs to be told that Mayweather is famed also for his evasion, footwork, and defence, as well as being able to pick opponents apart and make them look flat footed, no matter their experience or skill.

But the problem here, is not that the fight is happening, nor that it is happening in Japan, nor is it that Mayweather fighting this twenty year old phenom would not be interesting. The problem here, is that this sets a pretty crappy precedent, one that needs to be un set as fast as it is possible to do so. No doubt, we all remember the Mayweather vs McGregor fight, during which the cocky irishman was roundly beaten, as expected. McGregor stepped out of familiar territory, into a rule set which did not permit him to express his full potential, and the inevitable occured to the surprise of no one. But take note, McGregor wanted to fight Mayweather, and was prepared to step outside the promotion he normally fought for, in order to do so. That makes a kind of sense. He wanted to have a go, so he did, and he set out into a totally different combat environment, in order to perform that experiment. He did not try and change the environment he was going into, or try to bring his more familiar territory with him in any way. He embraced (for good or ill) the differences between the arts he knew well, and those he was about to engage in, and had the best go at it that he could.

Thats fair and fine enough, and that he was prepared to do so, showed not only that he had the right attitude to the possibility at least, but that he had enough respect for pure boxing, to compete in that environment without trying to modify it over much.

But Mayweather, clearly, has a respect problem. From where I sit, its deeply disrespectful to try and change the environment you are walking into, to better match the one you come from. Its pretty simple, really. When it comes to a practitioner of one form of fighting, going into an environment where mixed or freestyle competition is involved, its damned rude and utterly unacceptable to insist on rules which favour your way of fighting, over your opponent. Its like me as a near carnivore, walking into a vegetarians house and insisting that everyone is having steak tonight, just because I am in the building. Its not the done thing. Mayweather should have either chosen to delay the fight until he could train for MMA, THEN set up a date for the fight, and competed in the fight with the respect for his opponent necessary, or decided that, actually, since he will only ever box, never anything more, that there was no point in having the fight at all.

But no, instead, he has decided that the best thing to do would be to go through with the fight, but try and muscle out the home ground rules that are present in Rizin promotion, in favour of pure boxing. That is a dick move, and shows that he is a bit of a bloody coward to be frank. There have been boxers who have entered into MMA competitions to test their mettle, and yes, they have been beaten. But you could say the same of MMA guys swapping over to boxing to give it a shot these days, since the Connor fight. Connor may have lost, but at least he did not try and take his MMA methodologies, submissions, elbows, knees and such, into a boxing match, to rig the contest in his favour, despite not possessing home advantage.

I look at it this way. Boxing is Mayweathers house. Its his temple. What goes on there is his business, and its not for anyone wanting to challenge him from outside that temple, to dictate how that temple will be laid out for a bout. The same applies to the Rizin promotion and the fight with Tenshin Nasukawa. There was never any point having a boxing match against this kid, none at all. Its not what the kid does, although I am sure he will give a better performance than McGregor did, based on his particular skill set and the cleanliness of his execution. Now, some people are caught up on the notion that this fight will be an exhibition, rather than being a fight which will count toward Mayweathers professional record. That means that even if he were to be defeated by some happenstance, it will not read as him loosing his "0". Some others are concerned about the possibility that the judges and so on might be biased in favour of Nasukawa. To be frank, neither of these things matter a damn in my estimation. What matters to me is the fact that Mayweather is trying to pull a McGregor, but unlike McGregor does not have the bottle to do it with any bloody grace. Tenshin Nasukawa is worthy of better respect than this utter nonsense, that is for certain.

So what do you folks think of this event? Do you find the fight interesting in any way, or do you think that the whole thing is a pointless waste of time, from the perspective of spectacle, because Mayweather has reduced the event to a mere nonsense?

a reply to: TrueBrit

May is good, like really good. But this is a fight I doubt he will win.
I think this time he bit off more than he can chew. Still will be a good match though.

I spent years training with a certain individual(not hard to look up) that was trained by Chuck Norris and one thing that got drilled into me was never go against someone you will loose to.

Well Mayweather did just that.....good luck May!?!

a reply to: TrueBrit

you're over analyzing it just a tad. this fight is just to promote Tenshen and kickboxing mixed martial arts.


McGregor's wealth and portfolio, pre and post Mayweather are drastically different today.

after Tenshen loses, I foresee the same thing happening.

a reply to: Allaroundyou

You think he will get out boxed in a pure boxing match, against this young fellow?

Interesting. Its perfectly possible of course, since any game of punches can be won or lost on a single moments inattention or expression of genius. However, the general consensus has been that in a kickboxing match, Tenshin wins, and in a pure boxing match, Mayweather does. If you don't mind my asking, could you explain what makes you think Tenshin will be able to do what Connor could not? I do not doubt you must have reasons for thinking as you do, but it would be enlightening to find out what those reasons are.

May be an interesting fight to watch but....

Floyd Joy Mayweather Jr. is an American professional boxing promoter and professional boxer. He competed from 1996 to 2007 and 2009 to 2015, and made a one-fight comeback in 2017. Wikipedia Born: February 24, 1977 (age 41 years),

His middle name is "money". He is past his prime at 41 years old but continuing to pursue income in promoting theatrics like this. But, more power to him if he generates income for himself and the people that work for him. The public welcomes most any kind of entertainment and this should pay off for him.

a reply to: odzeandennz

I can understand why you might say that, but to be clear, there will be no kickboxing or mixed martial arts occurring in the match. Its a punching fight, nothing else, a boxing match, no different than any fought under the familiar world boxing organisations, except of course for its being only an exhibition, of three rounds rather than the more standard twelve.

So how it will promote a style of fighting that will not be present in the match, baffles me entirely. I mean, sure, it will draw temporary attention to Tenshin, and to Rizin, but I feel that a great deal of that attention will be negative, and we have long since passed the point where the old adage "Any publicity is good publicity" was even remotely true.

originally posted by: TrueBrit
a reply to: Allaroundyou

You think he will get out boxed in a pure boxing match, against this young fellow?

Interesting. Its perfectly possible of course, since any game of punches can be won or lost on a single moments inattention or expression of genius. However, the general consensus has been that in a kickboxing match, Tenshin wins, and in a pure boxing match, Mayweather does. If you don't mind my asking, could you explain what makes you think Tenshin will be able to do what Connor could not? I do not doubt you must have reasons for thinking as you do, but it would be enlightening to find out what those reasons are.

When I was training I for kickboxing mostly we are taught to use our feet. But and this is a big but we are also told to watch the hand of the opponent. That can be a big giveaway of the intended next move. Thus giving you the advantage if you read the opponent properly. Now I am 99% sure Mayweather knows this but likely has not trained as much in reading this quality.
With that in mind I am sad to say that he will most likely loose this match.

a reply to: CharlesT

Oh, no doubt there will be a pay off monetarily for him from this.

That's never in question when he is involved. But do you not think that this will turn off true fight fans, given the nature of the contest as it is currently planned?

a reply to: Allaroundyou

Hmmm...

I don't know... Seems to me that a boxer of his experience would know how to read an opponents body pretty damned well, hands, shoulders and foot position all at once.

originally posted by: TrueBrit
a reply to: Allaroundyou

Hmmm...

I don't know... Seems to me that a boxer of his experience would know how to read an opponents body pretty damned well, hands, shoulders and foot position all at once.

Either way this will be a good match! One I may even go to a bar to watch!

a reply to: TrueBrit

This is another money grab for both parties.
Mayweather gets his up front, Nasukawa gets his via American name recognition.

Mayweather wins this fight easily. He is twice the size of the other guy. PERIOD
Nasukawa is talented, no doubt. Not talented enough to beat up the greatest boxer of this generation with a 30 pound weight disadvantage.

a reply to: o0oTOPCATo0o

So you are firmly in the Mayweather to win camp. I cannot fault your logic.

However, can you imagine the madness that would ensue if Nasukawa won the bout? It would be like a miniaturised version of Lil' Mac vs Iron Mike in a game of Punch Out!

a reply to: TrueBrit

Maybe but I think most will watch simply out of curiosity. Like I said Mayweather is past his prime and boxing fans are aware of this so I don't think they will hold it against him.

a reply to: CharlesT

Past his prime?

I think there are fighters who have fought deeper into their middle age than him, and still been competitive. I think boxing fans would much rather see him fight Triple G or someone of his ilk, than take the apparently easier route of picking up cheap wins over people who practice a totally different martial art normally speaking.

a reply to: TrueBrit

Yeah. Floyd can't fight on his back. And that's what would happen in fh first 5 seconds. He would be taken down and tapped out in 2 mins or less. Floyd is fame hungry.

As for Tenshin, from what I've read, he has yet to fight an opponent who is in the top of their field. So, he will truly be tested by Floyd the marathon runner.

a reply to: TrueBrit

Floyd respect problem haha.... you got it so backwards.

I have no respect for any young buck that wants to fight grandpa.

a reply to: rollanotherone

en.wikipedia.org...

He has beaten former IBF champions and champion Muai Thai practitioners from the Lumpinee stadium, second only to one other Muai Thai stadium in Thailand.

He has beaten incredible fighters.

a reply to: imitator

To be fair, Tenshin was hardly the source of this whole event. He has been seeking to fight a fellow called Takeru for some time, but because of a feud between K-1, the promotion which has contract with Takeru and Rise/Rizin, that event has been put off. Its odd actually, because there is a bit of a kickboxing cold war going on at the moment. However, because the lad is an absolute legend, he had the fans shout out the name of this prospective opponent at prior fights, despite the fact that he knew it might get him in some trouble, and it did. He and his family got sued at one point over it, so hes not just a stellar strike specialist, but also a lad who wants the good fights, wants the fights folk want to see.

Theres no way in the world he came up with this hairbrained idea, but if its going down, hes the sort of fellow to take it with the due seriousness it deserves.

Floyd would not take this fight unless he saw not only what he needs to do for victory, but also a fat paycheck.

Have not even looked up this young Japanese fighter but I have no doubt he could not stand up to Errol Spence/Terrence Crawford let alone Floyd Mayweather Jr.

Money in the bank. Another W. Taking advantage of a young and inexperienced fighter's hunger.