Conor McGregor is ready to fight. Is Floyd Mayweather?
“I’m not saying the fight will happen.”
It could be a mismatch. It could be a circus. It might never happen. But a lot of people seem to want to see Conor McGregor fight Floyd Mayweather Jr. And the bout inched closer to reality after McGregor and the Ultimate Fighting Championship announced that they had reached an agreement on their end.
“The McGregor side is done; I’m starting to work on the Mayweather side now,” the UFC president, Dana White, said in an appearance on TNT’s postgame NBA coverage Wednesday night that demonstrated again how the prospective bout has crossed over into conversation even among fans with little interest in combat sports.
“I’m not saying the fight will happen,” White cautioned.
Because McGregor, 28, is under contract to the UFC, he cannot just cut a deal with Mayweather on his own.
“It is an honor to sign this record-breaking deal,” McGregor said in a statement to the mixed martial arts site The Mac Life. “The first and most important part of this historic contract has now officially been signed off on. Congratulations to all parties involved. We now await Al Haymon and his boxer’s signature in the coming days.”
Haymon is a promoter who works with Mayweather.
If the bout does happen, it will be a straight-up boxing match.
McGregor is one of the most accomplished and charismatic stars in the sport’s relatively brief history. He is 21-3 in mixed martial arts and is the only man in UFC history to hold two belts simultaneously.
Mayweather’s ring record is even more impressive: 49-0, including multiple world titles. The list of those he has beaten includes just about every top fighter anywhere near his weight: Manny Pacquiao; Saúl Álvarez, known as Canelo; Miguel Cotto; Juan Manuel Marquez; Oscar De La Hoya. As a draw, he has transcended the floundering sport in a way that few, if any, boxers have in recent years.
Mayweather, 40, is nominally retired since his last fight in September 2015. But retirements don’t always stick with boxers.
There seems to be little doubt that if McGregor does fight Mayweather, he will have an uphill climb. But there also seems to be little doubt that people will watch.
