Floyd Mayweather Jr has confirmed he will come out of retirement and face a Japanese kickboxer half his age this New Year's Eve in Saitama.
Mayweather, 41, who has never tasted defeat in a 50-fight career in professional boxing, will take on Tenshin Nasukawa at the Rizin Fighting Federation's next card on December 31, although what rules the fight take place under will be decided in the coming weeks.
Mayweather is widely regarded as the greatest boxer of his generation but seemingly retired after taking his perfect professional record to a half-century of wins by defeating UFC star Conor McGregor in August last year.
Talk of a comeback has been steadily building in recent months with UFC Lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov posting on his official Facebook page last month that a showdown with Mayweather was slated for next May in Grozny, Russia.
But Mayweather's decision to partner up with the Rizin Fighting Federation - an MMA promotion company - still comes as a shock.
Prior to Monday's news conference, Mayweather gave a select number of media interviews over the weekend, but the identity of Rizin's marquee recruit for the Saitama event had been kept under wraps.
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"I wanted to do something different. It doesn't matter where the fight is but it's in a special place," said Mayweather, a five-weight world boxing champion.
"I always wanted to display my skills outside the US and be in a special fight. This presented itself, I spoke with my team, I got with Rizin and we put it together.
"It's always been a goal of mine to go outside the US and go to another arena and display my talent as a professional. I did it as an amateur but it was different as a professional.
"I fought in the US for all 50 fights but as an amateur I was able to travel and fight in Russia, Cuba and so many different countries.
"I chose Japan because it's such a great place and they've got great people and the fighting atmosphere is unbelievable.
"I want to give the people what they want to see - blood, sweat and tears."
Nasukawa is 21 years Mayweather's junior but has won all 27 of his kickboxing contests as well as his first four bouts in MMA.
While Mayweather showered praise on his opponent, a bullish Nasukawa exuded confidence.
"I would like to prove with my own fist what others couldn't do in the past," said the 20 year old, who added he accepted the offer to fight Mayweather without hesitation.
"My opponent looks taller than I thought, I think because of the aura around him, but I think I could hit him."
Test
Director: S Sashikanth
Cast: Nayanthara, Siddharth, Meera Jasmine, R Madhavan
Star rating: 2/5
The BIO:
He became the first Emirati to climb Mount Everest in 2011, from the south section in Nepal
He ascended Mount Everest the next year from the more treacherous north Tibetan side
By 2015, he had completed the Explorers Grand Slam
Last year, he conquered K2, the world’s second-highest mountain located on the Pakistan-Chinese border
He carries dried camel meat, dried dates and a wheat mixture for the final summit push
His new goal is to climb 14 peaks that are more than 8,000 metres above sea level
The smuggler
Eldarir had arrived at JFK in January 2020 with three suitcases, containing goods he valued at $300, when he was directed to a search area.
Officers found 41 gold artefacts among the bags, including amulets from a funerary set which prepared the deceased for the afterlife.
Also found was a cartouche of a Ptolemaic king on a relief that was originally part of a royal building or temple.
The largest single group of items found in Eldarir’s cases were 400 shabtis, or figurines.
Khouli conviction
Khouli smuggled items into the US by making false declarations to customs about the country of origin and value of the items.
According to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, he provided “false provenances which stated that [two] Egyptian antiquities were part of a collection assembled by Khouli's father in Israel in the 1960s” when in fact “Khouli acquired the Egyptian antiquities from other dealers”.
He was sentenced to one year of probation, six months of home confinement and 200 hours of community service in 2012 after admitting buying and smuggling Egyptian antiquities, including coffins, funerary boats and limestone figures.
For sale
A number of other items said to come from the collection of Ezeldeen Taha Eldarir are currently or recently for sale.
Their provenance is described in near identical terms as the British Museum shabti: bought from Salahaddin Sirmali, "authenticated and appraised" by Hossen Rashed, then imported to the US in 1948.
- An Egyptian Mummy mask dating from 700BC-30BC, is on offer for £11,807 ($15,275) online by a seller in Mexico
- A coffin lid dating back to 664BC-332BC was offered for sale by a Colorado-based art dealer, with a starting price of $65,000
- A shabti that was on sale through a Chicago-based coin dealer, dating from 1567BC-1085BC, is up for $1,950
MATCH INFO
Liverpool 0
Stoke City 0
Man of the Match: Erik Pieters (Stoke)
SUCCESSION%20SEASON%204%20EPISODE%201
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ECreated%20by%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EJesse%20Armstrong%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EStars%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Brian%20Cox%2C%20Jeremy%20Strong%2C%20Kieran%20Culkin%2C%20Sarah%20Snook%2C%20Nicholas%20Braun%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ERating%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%204%2F5%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
In numbers: PKK’s money network in Europe
Germany: PKK collectors typically bring in $18 million in cash a year – amount has trebled since 2010
Revolutionary tax: Investigators say about $2 million a year raised from ‘tax collection’ around Marseille
Extortion: Gunman convicted in 2023 of demanding $10,000 from Kurdish businessman in Stockholm
Drug trade: PKK income claimed by Turkish anti-drugs force in 2024 to be as high as $500 million a year
Denmark: PKK one of two terrorist groups along with Iranian separatists ASMLA to raise “two-digit million amounts”
Contributions: Hundreds of euros expected from typical Kurdish families and thousands from business owners
TV channel: Kurdish Roj TV accounts frozen and went bankrupt after Denmark fined it more than $1 million over PKK links in 2013
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
COMPANY PROFILE
● Company: Bidzi
● Started: 2024
● Founders: Akshay Dosaj and Asif Rashid
● Based: Dubai, UAE
● Industry: M&A
● Funding size: Bootstrapped
● No of employees: Nine
