Rizin president Nobuyuki Sakakibara teased a mysterious deal with boxing legend Manny Pacquiao on his social media on Sunday. Two days later, he explained what that was about.
Sakakibara hosted a press conference in Tokyo, Japan, to announce two additional kickboxing bouts to upcoming Rizin 15 on April 21, clarifying that the company's deal with Pacquiao doesn't involve the boxing legend entering the ring to compete.
According to a press release issued by Rizin on Tuesday, "it seems as the deal was made more of an ambassador role for Filipino fighters to get bigger opportunities." Even though the current deal doesn't include boxing matches, Sakakibara doesn't rule out securing a separate deal in the future.
In his last appearance under the Rizin banner in December, Nasukawa lost by first-round TKO against superstar Floyd Mayweather in a boxing exhibition. The young Japanese star recently beat Federico Roma with a spectacular knockout (watch here) in his return to kickboxing in March, and now faces Philippines' Fritz Biagtan under kickboxing rules in Rizin.
The other kickboxing bout announced for Rizin 15 features Taiga Kawabe versus Thallison Ferreira.
The complete Rizin 15 fight card can be seen below.