Fashionably late or annoyingly late? Superstar Floyd Mayweather was supposed to be in the house at the huge stadium in Tokyo, Japan, by 11am UK time, yet he is said to be “running late.” There were even fears that Mayweather would scrap the three-round exhibition bout with 20 year old Tenshin Nasukawa, yet the word is the bout will indeed go ahead, just a couple of hours or so later than was originally planned.
According to various reports, had the main event gone ahead when it should have done, Floyd would not have even been in the building. Mayweather sure likes to make a grand entrance but he had better show up soon or else. Mayweather did take to social media earlier today, to boast about the staggering sum he will be paid for the scheduled nine-minutes of work: $9,000,000!
“What if I told you I was making $9,000,000 for nine minutes of sparring in Tokyo Japan, would you do the same if you were me? I like to call it a nine minute walk thru,” Floyd wrote a few hours ago.
There is, too, a reported fine in place, to the tune of $5 million, to be paid by Nasukawa if he kicks Mayweather during the exhibition. What can we expect to see when the action finally gets underway? Who knows. But Bob Arum and Ricky Hatton, for two, have laid into the bout, Arum calling it a joke and Hatton saying it proves how little Mayweather cares about the sport or the fans. Arum says Mayweather needs the money, that he always needs money.
Will it prove to be easy money the way Mayweather says it will, or might we see a genuine shock in Japan in an hour or so? Nasukawa has told Japanese media that he is going to “take down Mayweather,” and how his fans should “look forward to it.” We’ll soon see, hopefully anyway. Stay tuned. Will it prove to be a memorable New Year’s Eve in Tokyo?