Two fighters ‘will not pull punches’

Tokyo – Boxing superstar Floyd Mayweather Jr and a Japanese kickboxer half his age will be aiming to knock each other out next month, despite the match-up being an exhibition, the fight’s Japanese promoter said on Saturday.

The bout between Mayweather and Tenshin Nasukawa, first announced earlier this month, was abruptly scrapped by the American boxer over a “misunderstanding”, according to the CEO of mixed martial arts promoter RIZIN.

But on Friday it was back on for New Year’s Eve.

“It will be a non-official bout. It won’t be on record. So it’s an exhibition match,” Nobuyuki Sakakibara told reporters at Haneda airport in Tokyo returning from talks in Los Angeles.

“But at worst it’s not going to be sparring ... they will fight aiming to knock each other out,” he added. –