The greatest boxer of his generation, Floyd Mayweather, Jr. wants to box Conor McGregor. This makes sense as he could make $100,000,000 and it would easier than any afternoon sparring session.
However, McGregor is wisely playing hard to get, as he detailed in a Sunday morning interview with ESPN.
“It was him that leaked the rumor,” McGregor said. “He gets $100 million, and I get $7 million? That is a pay cut to me. I don’t take pay cuts. I thought boxing was where the money was at. Seven million is absolutely laughable. He’s talking $100 million. I’m also talking $100 million. I’m 27 years of age and I’m just about halfway through a $100 million contract.
“At 27 years of age, Floyd Mayweather was on Oscar de la Hoya’s undercard. Compare that. Who doesn’t want to conquer both worlds? He’s getting old now. I have the size, I have the reach, I have the height. I have the youth. He needs me, I don’t need him. That’s the truth of it. Who else he can fight? He fights someone else in the boxing realm, all of a sudden the pay goes from $100 million to $15 million. He needs me. If he wants to talk, we can talk, but it’s me who is in control here.”
“I don’t really care about rules. He can make all the rules he wants. I know he will not want to fight in a mixed martial arts contest in a true fight. If he wants to fight in a limited fight, that’s no problem we can do that. I will set a aside the many forms of fighting that I practice in and I will focus on one particular craft.”
This boxing match is not beyond the realm of possibility.
McGregor would lose, but he would make millions, which is a win. And ‘Notorious’ would become more famous, and when he lost, who cares? If the UFC secured co-promotion rights or a fee to step aside, they would make millions. But would that be worth the potential loss to the brand of their biggest star being made to look hapless, and the potential being raised for co-promotion with a star like Jon Jones? That, and whether public interest could generate Mayweather his $100,000,000.
UFC president Dana White has expressed great skepticism, but said repeatedly, that if Mayweather genuinely wants to do this then “Floyd, call me.”
