Floyd to fight MMA, sort of

Floyd Mayweather is stepping out of retirement... again, and it looks like he’ll also be stepping out of his comfort zone.

The world champion boxer announced at a press conference in Tokyo Sunday night that he will fight Tenshin

Nasukawa on New Year’s Eve in Japan. Though the specific rules set of the fight have not been announced yet, Nasukawa is a kickboxer with an undefeated MMA record in four fights and it is unlikely this would be a straight boxing match. One of Nasukawa’s vic- tories was a KO by head kick. He is also the current RISE featherweight World Champion.

KINGS CAN HEAD COACH

The struggling Los Angeles Kings fired head coach John Stevens on Sunday, just 13 games into his second season in charge. Willie Desjardins will be the Kings’ interim head coach for the rest of the regular season, general manager Rob Blake said. Los Angeles also fired assistant coach Don Nachbaur and hired former Kings forward Marco Sturm to replace him on Desjardins’ staff.

Los Angeles is last overall in the NHL standings after a 4-8-1 start and last in the league with 2.15 goals per game. The Kings have been outscored 45-28, but they had won two of their past three games following a six-game losing streak.

“I’m looking to get the compete and the passion back,” Blake said after announcing his second coaching change in 19 months. “We need our players emotionally involved. It’s difficult to win when you’re not. We expect Willie to bring that passion and that excitement to this team.”

NOVAK UPSET IN PARIS

Karen Khachanov upset a tiredlooking Novak Djokovic, 7-5, 6-4, to win the Paris Masters title and deprive Djokovic of the chance to match Rafael

Nadal’s record of 33 Masters titles. Djokovic, a record four-time champion at the indoor event, looked out of energy after an epic three-hour semifinal victory over Roger Federer on Saturday. That match finished at 8 p.m. local time.