Floyd Mayweather has denied claims that he agreed to face Tenshin Nasukawa in an official bout and had “never heard” of the Japanese kickboxer until this week.

The former boxing world champion was reported to have agreed to fight the Japanese boxer on December 31.

Mayweather claims he had only been asked to compete in a non-televised match-up for “wealthy spectators”.

“Once I arrived at the press conference, my team and I were completely derailed,” Mayweather said.

“We should have put a stop to it immediately. I can assure you that I too was completely blindsided by the arrangements that were being made without my consent nor approval. I was hesitant to create a huge disturbance by combating what was being said and for that, I am truly sorry.”

The unbeaten retired boxer extended his record to 50 wins in August of 2017 with a victory over UFC star Conor McGregor in a fight which earned him a reported $300million.

20-year old Nasukawa holds a record of 27-0 in kickboxing and a 4-0 in Mixed Martial Arts and it was unclear under what rules the bout with Nasukawa would take place.

Mayweather continued: “First and foremost, I want it to be clear that I, Floyd Mayweather, never agreed to an official bout with Tenshin Nasukawa. In fact [with all due respect] I have never heard of him until this recent trip to Japan.

“I was asked to participate in a nine-minute exhibition of three rounds with an opponent selected by the Rizen Fighting Federation.”

In an detailing Instagram post where he narrated his version of the events that took place, Mayweather did not give any indication that the exhibition contest will still go ahead.