The world of boxing and MMA sound ready to collide with a report suggesting Floyd Mayweather will exit retirement to take on UFC’s Conor McGregor in Las Vegas.
Folks know the drill with these two. Mayweather hung up the gloves after besting anyone and everyone, including Manny Pacquiao. McGregor has had an odd saga as of late, going the fake-retirement angle with UFC, maybe for more cash, then finding himself without a slot on a major pay-per-view.
Now, though, a report by Sun’s James Beal and Matt Heath-Smith says Mayweather took offense to trash talk by McGregor and the two parties have a deal in place for a boxing match:
Floyd went mad after Conor said he would crush him and knock him out in 30 seconds, he’s obsessed with making Conor eat his words.
Floyd is calling the shots. It’s strictly boxing and Conor will have to lose roughly 25lbs.
Apparently the deal went through on May 2 and an official announcement will come soon, with Mayweather getting around $144 million and about $10 million for McGregor.
It’s an odd turn of events for McGregor, who was supposed to suit up for UFC against Nate Diaz at UFC 200 in July after losing at 196. Now he’s looking at a significant weight dip to partake in a strict boxing match. Then again, if he wasn’t getting the cash he wanted from UFC in the first place, fighting a guy by the name of “Money” is a good way to fatten the wallet.
As for Mayweather, nobody truly believed he’d stay retired. This is confirmation, and one has to wonder whether this reported bout will do bigger numbers than his historic encounter with Pacquiao.