Floyd Mayweather quotes:

“As far as the weight class and the rules, we’ll talk about that. We’ll get that situated within the next couple of weeks. This particular bout is a special bout as far as we’re giving the people something they’ve never seen before. The world has never seen Mayweather compete live in Tokyo. Throughout the years, I’ve seen a lot of fans from Japan come to Las Vegas and come to the U.S., but me and my team said let’s do something different. Let’s go over to Japan.”

“As far as the weight class, we’re not really worried about that. It’s all about me going out there and displaying my skills against another skillful fighter. So we both want to go out there and display our skills and give people excitement. I just want to entertain. I will speak with my team and I will let my team get with Rizin and I’m pretty sure they’ll come up with a great idea, but it’s all about entertainment and that’s what we want to do for the people.”

“I want to continue to build my relationship with Money Team Tokyo. I want to continue coming over here and bringing other fighters over here so my company can continue to grow and RIZIN can continue to grow. I would love to continue to work with RIZIN because RIZIN is an unbelievable company, and my company, we’ve been making some huge fights happen in the US, but we look forward to taking the Mayweather Promotions banner and the TMT banner worldwide. And if it takes working with a great guy like this, there’s no problem.”

“[Tenshin Nasukawa is] undefeated, so it’s obvious he’s been doing something right to be where he’s at. He’s young, fast, [has] youth, undefeated like myself, and what the people want is excitement and that’s why I chose Japan. You guys know about boxing, you guys know about fighting. I’m not really worried about the rules. I’m pretty sure that will get sorted out in the next couple weeks. My thing is just coming over here to display my talent and put on a show for the people.

“It’s always been a goal of mine to go outside the U.S. and go into another arena and display talent as a professional because I did it as an amateur.”

“We put this together very quickly but with a great deal of professionalism,” said Brett Johnson of ONE Entertainment, who Mayweather said was key in putting the deal together. “And we look forward to keeping that going for the rest of our tenure together, however many years that may be.”

“I’m very happy to be back in Tokyo. I’ve been here upwards of eight or 10 times. I love that I was able to get together with my team. I couldn’t choose a greater company than Rizin.”

“Rizin has done a remarkable job with the fighters. I look forward to giving you guys entertainment come December 31, but my relationship with Rizin doesn’t stop here. I look forward to taking this worldwide.”

Nobuyuki Sakakibara, Rizin CEO, quotes:

“We still have more work cut out for us, but we think it will be a great fight everyone will be excited to see.”

“First, we had to convince Mr Mayweather to come to the ring. There was only one opponent we could consider for him. Tenshin.”

why a partnership with Mayweather makes sense

“I think my shortest answer to that is the fact that now we are aligned to achieve something together and that is hitting a new challenge, taking a step forward to whatever wonderful thing that we can create together.”

Tenshin Nasukawa quotes:

“I’m not particular about the rules, with or without kicks. Boxing rules I wouldn’t mind. My opponent looks taller than he actually is and I think that comes from the aura that he has, but I think I can hit him.”

“When I was offered this, I accepted right away without any delay whatsoever. I would probably say this is my biggest event in life so far and I’m very happy this is going to materialize. I’m a little surprised myself. Nobody has defeated my opponent in the past, and I’d like to be the man who makes history. My punch can change history, and I’ll show that to you so please stay tuned.”

“My role as a fighter is to make sure Japan gets a lot of excitement.”

Rizin 14 Mayweather-Nasukawa announcement full press conference video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iKkh6k9IQZg

Transcriptions from:

https://www.mmamania.com/2018/11/4/18063308/floyd-mayweather-to-fight-at-rizins-new-years-eve-event

http://www.espn.com/boxing/story/_/id/25181251/floyd-mayweather-schedules-bout-rizin-fighting-federation

https://asiamma.com/news-2/rizin-14-announcements/

https://www.mmafighting.com/2018/11/4/18063386/floyd-mayweather-vs-tenshin-nasukawa-announced-for-rizin-14