It sounds as though the mega-fight everyone’s been waiting for actually is going to happen.
The back-and-forth about a potential fight between undefeated boxer Floyd Mayweather Jr. and UFC lightweight champion Conor McGregor has been going on for nearly a year, but Mayweather is ready to make it happen. The 40-year-old announced at a tour stop in the United Kingdom recently that he’s coming out of retirement and has his sights set on a boxing match against McGregor.
“For Conor McGregor, I’m coming out of retirement, just to fight Conor McGregor,” Mayweather said, via MMAFighting.com. “I don’t want to hear no more excuses about the money, about the UFC. Sign the paper with the UFC so you can fight me in June. Simple and plain. Let’s fight in June. You’re the B side, I’m the A side. We’re not here to cry about money. I’m tired of all this crying about money and talking about you want to fight. You blowing smoke up everybody’s ass. If you want to fight, sign the paperwork, let’s do it.”
(Warning: The following video contains some strong language.)
If you’re getting your hopes up, though, it’s more than likely there still will be some challenges in making Mayweather vs. McGregor happen. For one, Mayweather said in January that he wants at least $100 million for the bout after UFC president Dana White offered $25 million to both men, so the two sides could have trouble coming to terms. There’s also the issue that McGregor took a hiatus from fighting to be with his girlfriend, Dee Devlin, during her pregnancy, and Devlin isn’t due until May. If Mayweather really is set on fighting in June, then it remains to be seen how McGregor will handle that.
Either way, this news is much better for boxing and mixed martial arts fans than any other reports that surfaced in the past year.
Thumbnail photo via Sergio Estrada/USA TODAY Sports Images
