Mayweather pulls out of Dec. 31 fight, says he ‘never agreed’ to bout

Kohjiro Kinno / ESPN Images(NEW YORK) — Floyd Mayweather Jr. won’t be stepping out of retirement in time for the New Year after all.

The 41-year-old retired boxer said in an Instagram post Wednesday that the fight between him and 20-year-old Japanese kickboxer Tenshin Nasukawa that was announced earlier this week wasn’t going to happen, saying he “never agreed to an official bout.”

“I was asked to participate in a 9 minute exhibition of 3 rounds with an opponent selected by the ‘Rizen Fighting Federation,’ Mayweather said.

“This exhibition was previously arranged as a ‘Special Bout’ purely for entertainment purposes with no intentions of being represented as an official fight card nor televised worldwide,” he explained. “Once I arrived to the press conference, my team and I were completely derailed by the new direction this event was going and we should have put a stop to it immediately.”

The fight was set to be held on Dec. 31 at the Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan. Should it have taken place, it would have marked the second time Mayweather had stepped out of retirement. He last did so in August 2017 to face the UFC’s Conor McGregor, who he knocked out in the 10th round of the boxing match.

“I want to sincerely apologize to my fans for the very misleading information that was announced during this press conference and I can assure you that I too was completely blindsided by the arrangements that were being made without my consent nor approval,” Mayweather said.

“For the sake of the several fans and attendees that flew in from all parts of the world to attend this past press conference, I was hesitant to create a huge disturbance by combating what was being said and for that I am truly sorry,” he added.

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