Floyd Mayweather is no fool, he knows that Conor McGregor talking trash about him means good business.
Mayweather may have hung up his gloves for good in 2015 after racking up a pristine professional record of 49-0, but there’s a lot of talk about him making a return to the ring in a super fight crossover spectacle against UFC lightweight champion Conor McGregor.
The hype was kicked into overdrive when Mayweather announced on ESPN’s First Take that he was willing to offer McGregor a guaranteed $15 million for the bout, a considerably smaller purse than the $100 million ‘The Notorious’ was initially asking for.
A few hours later, McGregor fired back on Twitter, resurrecting one of the darkest periods of Mayweather’s life in order to score some points on him.
Although Mayweather has made boatloads of money throughout his storied career, some fans weren’t buying his willingness to bow out when he was still banking some serious dollar every time he stepped into the ring. The subject of potentially making a comeback in 2017 came up during his Facebook Live interview with Brian Campbell, and the host made it clear what he wanted to see the prize pugilist do next.
“Oh I want to see you against the elite welterweights in the world. I want to see Mayweather-Thurman, Mayweather-Spence. I want to see this passing of the torch, because the torch might not get passed, Floyd. I know you’re pushing 40, you’re still number one.”
Mayweather didn’t appear too keen on that idea, judging by his response. He admitted there is a lot of top talent in boxing right now and plenty of young contenders he could face, but he isn’t really interested in stepping into the ring against the new breed.
“Thurman is a hell of a fighter and Spence is a hell of a fighter, but one thing we cannot do right now in boxing, out of all the fighters, I don’t know if it’s Pacquiao or Canelo, but Canelo’s probably doing better numbers than Pacquiao in PPV. I’m not sure.”
“Boxing is here to stay and I’m proud of it. Keith Thurman, Danny Garcia, Adrien Broner, Errol Spence, there’s so many young fighters… eh, Terrence Crawford. There’s so many young fighters out there that’s making noise in boxing.”
Mayweather was quick to point out that youth wasn’t on his side and confirmed that he would only be looking for a fight which made the most sense from a business perspective if he were to come out of retirement. Right now, he’s focusing on one marquee fighter, and he isn’t a boxer.
“But, you have to realise this, I’m an old man right now, so I’m smart. We believe in working smarter not harder, and the best business move for me is Conor McGregor. That’s what the world wants to see.”
Even if the world never gets to see the fight, the circus act that is the back-and-forth between the two combat sports superstars is enthralling.
