Rizin president Noboyuki Sakakibara has apologised to Floyd Mayweather after he had flowers thrown at his feet just seconds before his exhibition bout on Saturday night.
Mayweather faced MMA star Mikuru Asakura at the Saitama Super Arena as part of 'Super Rizin' over the weekend, and was expected to be presented with a bouquet of flowers before the bout. It is part of tradition in the promotion that fighters are given the gift before their fights, but in the boxing legend's case they were just thrown on the ground.
Looking confused at the whole situation, Mayweather picked the flowers up and gave them to his corner, before going on to stop Asakura within two rounds. And now the Rizin boss has branded the man who presented Mayweather with the gift as "vile" and promised never to let such an incident happen again.
“We deeply apologise for letting such a vile individual step into the sacred ring," Sakakibara posted on his Instagram. "We promise that we will make sure such actions will never be taken place ever again. Thank you for all of you who came and watched today. Heartfelt thanks to all 22 athletes who participated today.
"And I would like to take this opportunity to apologise for putting another low quality man in the ring. I promise to do a thorough job so that I won’t allow this kind of vulgar behaviour in the future.”
During the broadcast, the commentary team seemed bemused by what was happening. “That’s interesting. I don’t think I’ve ever seen that before in Japan," said Joe Ferraro, before Damien Brown added that he “Didn’t see that coming. Never." He explained: "It’s the traditional handing of the flowers, a respectful thing, maybe there’s some games being played.”
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Mayweather quickly moved on from the incident and the fight itself, announcing within hours of the final bell that he will be fighting YouTube star Deji in November. The pair will compete in an exhibition bout at the Coca-Cola Arena on November 13, with the Brit bringing a massive and very different audience to the table for the event.
A star-studded undercard including Tommy Fury, Jack Fincham, Harley Benn and Anthony Taylor is expected to be announced in the coming days. Mayweather has partnered with the Global Titans Fight Series that put on his bout with Don Moore back in May for this event, which is expected to be a massive pay-per-view.
“I am delighted to bring this incredible boxing experience to Dubai," Mayweather said in a press release. "Global Titans will give fans an unrivalled boxing match with a huge undercard. It is an honour to be a part of such an iconic event in an iconic city, and I would like to thank the Global Titans team for reaching out to me and giving back so much to the sport I love.”
