Eaton Thatcher
Just when you thought rumors of a Floyd Mayweather vs. Conor McGregor fight were dying down, a new breakthrough thrusts the two biggest names in the fight game back into the limelight.
This time, it’s Floyd Mayweather making the move. He recently announced he’s officially out of retirement and actively seeking a fight against McGregor. And, according to rumors, the T-Mobile Arena in Vegas has put June 10th on reserve for the potential bout. All this is music to the ears of fans, but it promises very little. Mayweather has dipped in and out of retirement throughout his career, and we all knew he was more than willing to come out of retirement for a 50-0 fight anyway.
If the fight takes place, we’ll have the biggest star in Mixed Martial Arts up against the biggest money maker in boxing. Mayweather will be seeking his 50th consecutive win, an unparalleled achievement in boxing, while McGregor will be switching codes and looking to silence the critics once again. You might not think it’ll be a good fight, but I’m sure you’ll tune in!
Mayweather currently holds the top three PPV numbers of all time. His 2015 bout against Manny Pacquiao raked in 4,600,000 buys; his 2007 fight against Oscar de la Hoya brought in 2,400,000; and his match-up against Canelo Alvarez came in third with 2,200,000 buys. Meanwhile, McGregor holds four of the top five PPV events in the UFC, with his fights against Nate Diaz being the top two. A bout between the two biggest draws would blow all of these records out of the water.
The UFC is in a compromised position at the moment when it comes to McGregor. After the potential title eliminator between Tony Ferguson and Khabib Nurmagomedov fell through, the UFC doesn’t really have many options for McGregor other than maybe McGregor vs. Diaz III. On top of that, McGregor is seeking parental leave as he awaits the birth of his first child. It’s going to take something special to have him fight, and the UFC may have no choice but to enter negotiations with the Mayweather and McGregor camps.
The only thing more ridiculous than the fight is the amount of money involved. There’s a lot that can go wrong during the negotiations, but with that much money on the line, I wouldn’t be surprised if they manage to work it out.
Odds the fight takes place before year-end 2017: 11/9
O/U on PPV buys: 5.5 Million
Odds the fight occurs at the T-Mobile Arena on June 10th: 9/1
Odds to win:
Mayweather: 1/10
McGregor: 7/1
Draw: 33/1
Odds fight ends by:
Decision: 1/1
KO/TKO: 11/9
Disqualification: 19/1
Odds the fight takes place in:
Vegas: 1/9
New York: 19/1
United Arab Emirates: 50/1
Dublin: 1000/1
Photo credit: “Floyd Mayweather” by Bryan Horowitz CC BY-SA 2.0 [http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0], via Flickr.
