Floyd Mayweather earned a cool $9 million for a fight on New Year’s Eve, and his Japanese opponent earned a brutal and humiliating beating.
The undefeated boxer traveled to Japan to take on kickboxing star Tenshin Nasukawa, but their much-anticipated fight was over not long after it started. Nasukawa was knocked to the canvas three times in the first two minutes of the bout, the New York Post noted. Mayweather seemed to toy with his 20-year-old opponent, who was dubbed Japan’s “Golden Boy.”
“The American, who in the hours before the contest posted a video on Instagram advertising his strip club, then showed his disdain as he pawed out his hand and failed to throw a single punch for the opening 30 seconds,” the report noted.
By the end of the fight, Nasukawa was in tears. Mayweather took his opponent’s hand and raised it into the air.
Mayweather has now defeated consecutive opponents who were very out of their element in the boxing ring. After beating UFC star Conor McGregor in one of the most anticipated matches of recent years, Mayweather made short work of the kickboxer-turned-boxer in Japan. The report noted that Nasukawa failed to connect on some of his wild punches, prompting a flurry of punches from the undefeated boxer.
The report noted that the series of strikes left Nasukawa “staggering back like a drunk” before falling to the canvas. Mayweather, known for being a defensive boxer focused on outscoring his opponents, became unusually aggressive in taking on his opponent.
The beating earned some trolling from Mayweather’s onetime rival, Manny Pacquiao. The Filipino fighter and Senator took to Twitter to make fun of Mayweather for beating such an outmatched opponent.
“Here is an early New Year’s resolution,” Pacquiao wrote in a Twitter message clearly aimed at Mayweather. “To continue to only fight experienced opponents who are my size or bigger.”
Floyd Mayweather was not wasting any time in his bout with Japanese kickboxer Tenshin Nasukawa. https://t.co/XIptbaMHu7
— Twitter Moments (@TwitterMoments) December 31, 2018
After the brutal beating, Mayweather stressed that the fight was just an exhibition.
“I want to say thanks to God for the turnout, my team, thank you to Mayweather productions and all the entertainment teams,” Mayweather said. “Thank you to the fans you guys have been amazing. It’s all about entertainment. It’s not going on anyone’s record. Tenshin is still one hell of a fighter and one hell of a champion.”
Floyd Mayweather apparently has no plans to return to the boxing ring for an actual match against another boxer, preferring to remain retired and undefeated.
