Talk regarding a potential blockbuster of a fight between Floyd Mayweather Junior and Conor McGregor will seemingly not go away – in fact, Mayweather himself is now speaking to the media about the fight, insisting he “absolutely” thinks the fight will happen. Only yesterday, UFC President Dana White seemed to have closed the book on the world-be super-fight once and for all, when he said the fight had almost no chance of happening, and that if it did, he and the UFC would have to be involved in the promotion.
White put things into perspective when he spoke about how long it took for Mayweather to finally face Manny Pacquiao; with White then asking how long we could imagine it would take for two massive stars from different sports to make a deal. That seemed to end matters, but no. Last night on Showcase, Mayweather spoke to Steve Farhood of Showtime and he said the fight is now in the talking stages and that he is preparing for a tough fight.
“It’s really not a rumour. The fight may happen. We really don’t know, as of right now,” Mayweather said. “But do I think the fight will happen? Absolutely. We’re the A-side of course. It has to be a boxing match, because most fights that Conor McGregor won inside the Octagon, he was a stand-up guy. So I’m pretty sure it’s going to be a tough fight for me. Hopefully we can make the fight happen. He’s no pushover. One thing about Conor McGregor, he’s no pushover. He fell short in his last bout, but a true champion can always bounce back. We haven’t picked a venue, we haven’t talked about money yet. I’m going to get $100 million, of course. Every time I get in the squared circle, it’s $100 million or better.
“My focus right now, only guy I’m thinking about right now, business-wise, is Conor McGregor.”
This is the most Mayweather has spoken about the possible fight in public and he does sound as though he wants it. Mayweather isn’t joking when he says $100 million is his number. He previously stated that, if he were to come back, he would only do so for that much money. Is there any fighter in boxing – outside of the retired, now Senator Manny Pacquiao – who could get Mayweather those staggering numbers? It’s unlikely, unless Mayweather were to do something really shocking like fight Gennady Golovkin. So maybe Mayweather is looking at a hybrid super-fight between himself and MMA star McGregor.
Would the fight be the monster hit Mayweather and plenty of other people think it would be if it took place? Millions of fans, from both sports, would likely tune in, that’s for sure. Maybe Mayweather will be giving Dana White that call the UFC President asked him to make if he is serious about fighting McGregor after all.
