“Pretty sure it’s gonna come around real soon. Won’t be that long.” And like that, Floyd Mayweather Sr. escalated a rumor and a fun hypothetical into perhaps a real potential Floyd Mayweather/Conor McGregor superfight. Before the cynicism and semantics take over let’s admit that a Mayweather vs McGregor fight would be the first real superfight in combat sports since the inception of the UFC. This is the Inoki vs Ali of the 21st century (with far less butt-scooting). It would be fantastic if it happened.
But both men are retired, right? No. (This is where we can get cynical.) Even though at 39-years-old Floyd Mayweather Jr. is at retirement age, the reality of the situation is that his contract with CBS/Showtime is up, and an athlete has no better negotiation ace in his pocket than the retirement card. If you want to get him “out” of retirement, it will cost a lot of money — and it has to be the right fight. Maybe a fight against someone who can already move a few million PPV buys on his name alone? With Manny Pacquiao out of the picture, the only man in combat sports who can leap PPV buy rate records in a single bound happens to be an MMA fighter named Conor McGregor, and so this makes total sense.
ES News spoke to Floyd Sr. and he had a lot to say about the potential fight.
“He had told me the other day that he’s going to take another fight. He told me it’s some kind of MMA fighter.”
The elder Mayweather filled-in the world on Mayweather’s recent activities, saying he was out traveling as a retiree, but he could still step right back into the ring because he hasn’t been gone for years. His body is still right. The big question now is McGregor’s contract with the UFC. A few years ago, Nick Diaz tried to maneuver around his UFC contract to box due to his low MMA pay, and he was quickly given PPV points and a title shot off a loss. So let’s just say whether or not this fight ever materializes, McGregor is sitting back and enjoying the first help he’s gotten in his current negotiations with the UFC since he retired last month.
McGregor probably knows he’d never be able to defeat one of the best boxers ever in a boxing match, but he’d make bank, and likely gain the respect of fans of both sports.
(Via Larry Brown Sports)
