Limpag: Floyd: Lost in translation

DAYS after an announced comeback fight by Floyd Mayweather Jr. against Tenshin Nasukawa raised more questions than answers, the undefeated American himself answered the questions directly by denying the fight will take place.

Mayweather, whose last bout was against Connor McGregor, flew to Japan to meet Nasukawa, a virtual unknown before the supposed fight on Dec. 31.

Under what rules? MMA? Boxing? Kickboxing?

Well, four days later, Floyd answered it himself.

There’s no fight. Strangely enough, the gifted self-promoter who loves to hijack storylines of boxing events that don’t involve him said he got blindsided in the press conference. Reports of the initial press conference say the kickboxer used an interpreter, so while the American may have been lost and confused when they spoke Japanese, at least he got the English version.

Here’s how Floyd explained what happened: “I was asked to participate in a nine-minute exhibition of three rounds with an opponent. This was to be an exhibition put on for a small group of wealthy spectators for a very large fee. This exhibition was previously arranged purely for entertainment purposes with no intentions of being represented as an official fight card nor televised worldwide.”

The only good thing about this is that it means the Manny Pacquiao vs. Mayweather rematch is still on. Had that bout pushed through as advertised, it would have meant Floyd isn’t taking Pacquiao seriously or has no plans to fight him again.

Both fighters have said they’d have a tuneup bout before the rematch and Pacquiao has announced a fight with a 29-year-old former champ who sports a 33-3-1 record with 24 KOs and Floyd’s tuneup bout is with someone who has zero pro boxing experience?

The rematch between the fighters who should have faced each other a decade ago will happen and will sell because, as veteran Al Mendoza said it aptly, “in boxing, there’s a sucker born every minute.”

Pacquiao will be 40 and Floyd will be 42 when the rematch happens, which is expected to be in May next year. A part-time boxer and a recently retired fighter whose first fight was slammed as the Fraud of the Century.

No matter who wins in that bout, both fighters are going to earn millions, though it won’t be at the level of their first bout in 2015.