THE death of UAE President Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed has postponed Floyd Mayweather’s boxing return.
Mayweather was due to fight ex-sparring partner Don Moore this Saturday in Dubai atop of a 700ft hotel HELIPAD.
Don Moore pictured with Floyd Mayweather in Dubai
But following the death of Khalifa at the age of 74, the entire event has been cancelled.
Boxing manager Sarah Fina, who is in Dubai for a fight on the undercard, shared the news on Instagram.
She posted: “Entire show cancelled! President of UAE passed away today! This is so crazy!”
Mayweather himself paid tribute to the politician as his comeback bout was dramatically axed with just 24 hours to go.
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He posted: “Sending my condolences to the entire UAE. RIP Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed.”
Khalifa was leader of the UAE from 2004 onwards and is thought to have been worth around $120million.
He is also the half brother of Sheikh Mansour, the billionaire who bought Manchester City football club in 2008.
The UAE’s ministry of presidential affairs announced a 40-day period of mourning and a three-day suspension of work in all ministries.
That ultimately led to Mayweather’s exhibition event being postponed with no official word on a rescheduled date.
The American has spent the week in Dubai promoting and training for the fight alongside Moore.
And the ring, situated on the Burj Al Arab’s famous helipad, had been set up just hours before the cancelation.
Only 20-40 VIP fans were set to be in attendance, with tickets purchased as NFTs, costing the equivalent of £150,000.
Mayweather was set to box in his third exhibition bout since officially retiring in 2017 after beating UFC superstar Conor McGregor, 33.
Firstly, he faced featherweight kickboxer Tenshin Nasukawa, 23, in 2018 and then YouTuber Logan Paul, 27, last June.
SunSport understands event organisers in Dubai are frantically looking to reschedule the fight to a later date.
