Never say never.
It sounds like a crazy idea. And surely, there are a lot of hoops for each fighter to jump through. But if the sides can figure out a way to make things work, Floyd Mayweather Jr. is open to coming out of retirement for a superfight with UFC featherweight champion Conor McGregor.
“If I do fight, it’s only against Conor McGregor,” Mayweather told ESNEWS over the weekend, per MMAFighting.com. “That’s going to be my only fight and not against nobody else because this matchup is just so intriguing.
“You have a fighter against an MMA fighter, one of the best MMA fighters to do combat and stand up and do it. He’s a strong fighter, and when I look at him fight, he’s a little faster than I thought he was. So if the fight happens, I can’t overlook the guy. I’m pretty sure — if we make the fight happen — I’m pretty sure he’s going to push me to the limit.”
The world of combat sports has buzzed of late over a possible fight between Mayweather and McGregor. The concept of a boxer fighting a mixed martial artist is intriguing in and of itself, but when you consider the popularity of each combatant, it’s easy to envision such a bout generating record-breaking revenue. And that could be enough incentive for all parties involved to strongly consider making the dream matchup a reality.
“I’m pretty sure we’re going to have a master plan to make that fight happen,” Mayweather told ESNEWS, per MMAFighting.com. “It hasn’t happened yet, but we locked down some dates. Me and my team, me and Al Haymon, me and Leonard Ellerbe, we locked down some dates in different countries, in different cities in the United States. And you already know what my number is, 100 million (dollars). That’s just the guarantee. We don’t talk about my number on the back end.”
Admittedly, the fight still seems like a long shot. Legendary boxing trainer Freddie Roach recently said he’d need three years to train McGregor and that he wouldn’t train him to fight Mayweather, and UFC president Dana White followed by pointing out there are too many variables involved for the cross-sport fight to happen. Both Mayweather and McGregor sound enthusiastic about the idea, though.
Let’s hope Mayweather’s “master plan” is a good one.
Thumbnail photo via Joe Camporeale/USA TODAY Sports Images
