Promoters have slapped Manny Pacquiao’s opponent for his comeback fight with a massive potential fine.
The boxing legend returns to the ring on Sunday evening to face 28-year-old K-1 kickboxing champion Rukiya Anpo. He was due to take on MMA champion Chihiro Suzuki but when he suffered an injury a new opponent was found.
Despite Anpo’s background and the fact that Rizin is primarily a MMA promotion, the pair are fighting under strictly boxing rules. They will compete for three rounds of just two minutes in what is likely a warm-up as Pacquiao begins his move towards a professional return.
Manny Pacquiao’s comeback opponent faces hefty fine if he breaks rules
Rizin have been known over the years to bring in boxers for one-off exhibitions on their major events. Floyd Mayweather has made multiple appearances, knocking out kickboxer Tenshin Nasukawa and MMA star Mikuru Asakura in his two outings.
But despite fans interest in seeing these boxers take on even hybrid rules, they have always been strict about the rigid ruleset needed. Nasukawa was slapped with a similar fine when he faced Mayweather, and now Rukiya Anpo faces a massive penalty if he pulls out some of his illegal skills.
Rizin president Nobuyuki Sakakibara said in quotes translated by Beyond Kickboxing: “Any violation will be punishable by a $5million fine. At the time of Tenshin versus Mayweather in 2018 that was approximately 500million yen. However, due to the weak yen, that figure is now around 750million yen.”
Manny Pacquiao begins comeback mission with Super Rizin fight
Manny Pacquiao is believed to be beginning his move towards a final comeback run when he faces Anpo, having retired from the sport in 2021 following a loss to Yordenis Ugas. He then made an effort at becoming president of the Philippines, but was unsuccessful.
The boxing icon made a brief return to the ring for an exhibition with influencer DK Yoo in South Korea at the end of 2022. He dropped the social media star and martial artist multiple times, but just about missed a stoppage and no winner was declared.
Now, he faces Anpo before potentially launching a challenge for Mario Barrios’ WBC welterweight world title. While nothing has yet been confirmed with regards his return to the pro ranks, he has insisted that this bout in Japan is far from just an exhibition.
At a launch press conference for when he was due to face Suzuki, Pacquiao said of the contest: “I just want to say to everybody: This is not an exhibition. This is a fight, a three-round fight. We will be looking for a knockout for this fight.
“So you better watch, and it’s going to be a lot of action in the ring. And, of course, I’ll do my best to win by knockout. Thank you.”
Rukiya Anpo vows to ‘sink’ Manny Pacquiao in exhibition fight
While Pacquiao is claiming that the exhibition is a true fight, nobody is more serious about this Sunday than his opponent. Rukiya Anpo has vowed to silence the doubters who have made ‘misguided’ picks for the event.
The kickboxer has a 27-8-1 record and has won K-1 lightweight gold, but lost his sole MMA fight and has never boxed as a professional. That isn’t dampening his confidence, however, sharing a fight poster with the translated caption: “I’ll give you all the boxing critics who have misguided predictions.
“As you can see on the poster, even if it’s 1% chance, I’ll win this match. You have captivated enough people and created legends. I’m going to build this generation. Seriously going to sink heroes on the mat.”
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