Floyd Mayweather forcefully sent Tenshin Nasukawa, who is less than half as young as him, to the floor three times in the first round of the contest before his Japanese rival’s coach had to intervene to halt the fight.
The American boxer appeared not to have taken the fight seriously at first, grinning and letting his opponent attempt to take the lead, but minutes later, he attacked with a flurry of jabs and hooks targeted at the head of the 20-year-old. Nasukawa was ultimately left reeling again within just two minutes of the bout.
The rules were strictly defined, with kickboxer Nasukawa reportedly facing a $5 million fine if he directed an iconic kick at Mayweather. Only a knockout or a technical knockout was considered to be victory in what has been presented as an “exhibition” bout.
The discrepancy in the rules and Mayweather’s dominance in terms of weight could naturally not go unnoticed on Twitter. One even suggested that the opponent had been bribed:
Mayweather paid the China man to lose.
— Derek Harris (@AMERICASDOLLAR) 31 декабря 2018 г.
I bet he fights a woman next.
— Tom Strayhorn (@tstrayhorn1979) 31 декабря 2018 г.
Not a fair fight. Just like McGregor. Nasukawa couldn't use half his fighting arsenal. Floyd is a fraud and a phoney. Yes I said it.
— matt weaver (@hirisk76) 31 декабря 2018 г.
Another suggested that the bout had been staged from the very start:
I love staged fights pic.twitter.com/3OAs8F4nTE
— TheBearded1 (@DaddyJ444) 31 декабря 2018 г.
Even hilarious memes on the subject started to flood the comment section below the news:
— Boston Knick (@BostonKnick) 31 декабря 2018 г.
That last knock down had him like 😂😂😂😂 pic.twitter.com/s5gDsjkPG6
— ❌Hood Pope❌ (@Fly_Lifestyle) 31 декабря 2018 г.
Who else want some? pic.twitter.com/sDCQsAsiLG
— MALIK (@ErrolWisdom) 31 декабря 2018 г.
— fatboy frank (@frattylite76) 31 декабря 2018 г.
— King Wizard… (@GabrielBass03) 31 декабря 2018 г.
— Pedro Flores (@ElCapitanTweets) 31 декабря 2018 г.
Floyd’s reputation, however, wasn’t disregarded, either:
Omg Floyd was definitely toying with him. Jokes
— Lahey (@Laha19) 31 декабря 2018 г.
The screenshots sporting the knockdown episode and the final reconciliation gesture quickly became the basis for memes themselves:
— mike butler (@mbutler04) 31 декабря 2018 г.
— Breyden Ruo (@BreydenRuo) 31 декабря 2018 г.
— Chris McCulloch (@cjmcrock) 31 декабря 2018 г.
The utmost disappointment on Tenshin’s face was put a special focus on:
I can already see ppl make memes out of this lo pic.twitter.com/ER8tdO1pTP
— FRE$CO (@4evafresco) 31 декабря 2018 г.
