Floyd Mayweather sends message to Conor McGregor: 'Let's make the fight happen'
Floyd Mayweather is ready to return from his retirement but he's only interested in one fight.
Mayweather wants UFC champion Conor McGregor.
For nearly a year, Mayweather and McGregor have bantered back and forth through interviews and social media while campaigning to put together a fight together that would pit the biggest superstar from boxing against his equal in mixed martial arts.
While negotiations have started, Mayweather made it clear in an interview with Showtime this weekend that he wants the McGregor fight and now it's time to put pen to paper to make it happen.
"I'm here to say today, 2-24 on my birthday, they keep throwing the Conor McGregor name out there. Conor McGregor, like I said before, I'm here let's make it happen," Mayweather said.
"Let's make the fight happen. Let's give the fans what they want to see. There's only one fight out there that's important and that's Mayweather and Conor McGregor."
https://twitter.com/ShowtimeBoxing/status/835337631563038720
As much as Mayweather and McGregor want the fight to come together, there are still questions about the legitimacy of putting one of the greatest boxers of this generation against a UFC fighter with no prior boxing experience.
Odds makers have already said that Mayweather would be somewhere near a 25 to 1 favorite if he stepped into the ring with McGregor, who would have a size and reach advantage but his ring experience in boxing is virtually zero.
"I mean cause every time Conor McGregor goes out there and compete and win, he do it standing up," Mayweather said to counter that argument. "When Conor McGregor did lose, he lost on the ground. He didn't lose standing up. So he's a hell of a fighter and a very, very tough competitor and he has the will to win.
"The UFC gloves is no different from boxing gloves, they just a little bit smaller but if a guy got power, he got power and Conor McGregor got power."
According to Mayweather, the biggest obstacle standing in the way of the proposed super fight is McGregor's employers at the UFC.
McGregor is under exclusive contract to the UFC so the promotion would have to sign off on his participation in the boxing match or perhaps even ask to serve as a co-promoter for what would likely be one of the biggest pay-per-views of all time.
Mayweather has taken jabs at McGregor recently by pointing out that he makes his own decisions while the current UFC lightweight champion has to go through his employers for permission.
He took another shot in his most recent interview, but Mayweather still knows on paper that facing McGregor would be the largest payday with the least amount of risk to his perfect 49-0 record.
"We don't really have to talk about that. We already know what my number is. My team and us, our number is there," Mayweather said reference how much guaranteed money he would need to fight McGregor. "He has to get his thing in order with his team.
"Once Conor McGregor speaks with the UFC and his bosses, and then we can make it happen. Because we already know that Floyd Mayweather is his own boss. We've got Showtime [pay-per-view], Mayweather Promotions, which is the past and present and the future of sports and entertainment."
