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Home / Sport / Boxing

'Shouldn't have been allowed' - Critics weigh in on Floyd Mayweather mismatch

NZ Herald
31 Dec, 2018 09:10 PM3 mins to read

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Floyd Mayweather Jr., right, holds the hand of Japanese kickboxer Tenshin Nasukawa, after beating him in their three-round exhibition match. Photo / AP

Floyd Mayweather Jr., right, holds the hand of Japanese kickboxer Tenshin Nasukawa, after beating him in their three-round exhibition match. Photo / AP

Floyd Mayweather made $13m but very few friends with his hasty knockdown of Japanese kickboxer Tenshin Nasukawa.

The great American boxer may be impressed with his money-making expertise, but many seasoned observers regarded the fight in Japan as a fix of sorts. It was hard to find anyone in Mayweather's corner.

Under the headline: 'Was the Floyd Mayweather fight fixed?' Jesse Holland wrote on mmamania.com: "Most of what I've seen online about the fight being fixed stems from Nasukawa's knockdowns.

"The uncharacteristically-aggressive Mayweather has never been known as a power puncher and "Teppen" was launched across the ring with every blow, flopping around on the ground like a freshly-spawned Magikarp.

Floyd Mayweather “KOs” Tenshin Nasukawa in exhibition fight

🤦🏻‍♂️ ... This guy was selling like he’s the lovechild of Shawn Michaels and Dolph Ziggler pic.twitter.com/NPSrnE5Cew

— 𝗧𝗥𝗢𝗬 𝗛𝗨𝗚𝗛𝗘𝗦 (@TommySledge) December 31, 2018
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"Let's face it, in so many ways the fight was rigged. It was created as an exhibition bout to protect Mayweather's record in case of an unexpected disaster, Nasukawa was prevented from using any kicks, and the contest was only scheduled for three rounds.

"And unless he's Japan's greatest actor, watching Nasukawa bawl in the ring after his corner threw in the towel tells me that even if his Mayweather fight was fixed, "Teppen" probably didn't get the memo."

Mayweather told the BBC: "It was all about entertainment — we had a lot of fun. They wanted this to happen in Japan, so I said 'why not?'.

"I'm still undefeated. Tenshin is still undefeated. Tenshin is a true champion and a hell of a fighter. I want the fans around the world to support Tenshin, he's a great guy and a great champion."

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A post shared by Floyd Mayweather (@floydmayweather)

"Did I have a training camp for this fight? No. I went to the gym a few times," Mayweather said.

Mayweather adversary, the great Manny Pacquiao, appeared to get a dig in by saying he would "continue to only fight experienced opponents who are my size or bigger."

Former world champion and Olympic gold medallist Andre Ward was more sympathetic, saying: "Mayweather was following in the footsteps of other legendary fighters who used exhibitions to stay in shape and keep n contact with fans."

But many pundits were less impressed.

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Sports Illustrated's Chris Mannix tweeted the contest was "as dumb as I expected. ESPN"s Dan Rafael said "Floyd assaulted a 122-pounder who is not a boxer".

MMA/boxing writer Kevin Iole from yahoo.sports tweeted that Mayweather was a great fighter but it was ridiculous to give him praise for "pummeling" a bantamweight who had never boxed before.

"This was a joke that shouldn't have been allowed to occur," he reckoned.

The Guardian said the contest had done "more for bank balances than combat sports' reputation"

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