Boxing Early KO earns $13.4m

It took less than three minutes for Floyd Mayweather to knock down his Japanese kickboxer opponent Tenshin Nasukawa three times in a totally one-sided bout of exhibition boxing on New Year’s Eve. Nasukawa’s father threw in the towel after 140 seconds of the first round yesterday as his 20-year-old son bravely teetered around the ring trying to get up. Mayweather boasted on Instagram before the fight that he would earn $US9 million (NZ$13.4 million) for nine minutes of sparring in Tokyo, but the fight only lasted two minutes. It was a quick and definitive victory for the 41-year-old American. Mayweather was gracious in victory, hugging the weeping Nasukawa and calling him ‘‘still a great champion’’. Nasukawa, however, barely landed a clean punch against the vastly more experienced Mayweather.