Floyd Mayweather plans to face Japanese kickboxing expert Tenshin Nasukawa on December 31 in Saitama, north of Tokyo.
The 41-year-old Mayweather is 50-0 as a boxer, but has never had a professional fight under the rules of mixed martial arts, although he did have a lucrative win over MMA star Conor McGregor last year.
Japanese promoter RIZIN Fighting Federation announced Monday that the rules and weight class for the fight have not been established.
“We still have work to do,” said Nobuyuki Sakakibara, President of RIZIN.
At a press conference in which Mayweather also participated, Nasukawa said that “this is probably the most important event of my life so far.”
The 20-year-old Japanese vowed to end Mayweather’s undefeated record.
“No one has beaten my opponent before, and I would like to be the man who makes history,” Nasukawa stressed. «My punch can modify history. And I’ll show you.
Mayweather sat calmly before praising his young rival.
“I think he is young, very strong and very fast, and undefeated, so obviously something has been doing well,” added the former American boxer. AP