Retired boxer Floyd Mayweather had allegedly agreed to fight Tenshin Nasukawa in a special rules bout later this year at Rizin’s New Years Eve show, but then the boxer would say a few days later that he was mislead by Rizin and the encounter won’t be taking place.
Bellator MMA veteran Chael Sonnen believes this whole mess has now lead to Mayweather’s brand being brought down.
“Huge miss here by Floyd Mayweather,” Sonnen said on Ariel & The Bad Guy. “He has brought down his brand. Very normal trajectory of a fighter’s career: you start out fighting at the YMCA, you move on to the dog park, you get into a coliseum, on your way out you go back to the YMCA, and then you finish up at the dog park. That is what this appeared to be for Floyd from jump street.”
The bout did draw some interest from former two division UFC champion Conor McGregor, who had previously battled Mayweather in The Money Fight in August of 2017.
Sonnen also thinks that Mayweather’s alleged bad financial decision will lead the boxer to fight again at some point in the future.
“The only thing more embellished than Floyd Mayweather’s pay-per-view buys is Floyd Mayweather’s net worth,” said Sonnen. “But his spending habits are real. We know he has to fight again but the fact that he would go and offer his services in a stunt fight over in Japan under “yet to be specified rules,” this is very bad for the brand. And for him to try to unwind that and the come back to America. Look, it’s tough and Floyd stubbed his toe on this one.”
Prior to the Rizin announcement, reports started surfacing that Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao were in the process of negotiating for a second fight.
