It seems retired great Floyd Mayweather cannot stay out of the news. Whether he is talking about coming back or not coming back, or whether someone else is talking about him, Mayweather’s name is always out there. One man who is no stranger to Mayweather, MMA megastar Conor McGregor, who has had a few exchanges with Mayweather on social media, has spoke about how he is “open” to a crossover fight with the unbeaten boxing master.
We have seen boxers take on MMA fighters and vice versa before (think Ray Mercer-Tim Sylvia, a win for the boxer, and Randy Couture-James Toney, a win for the MMA fighter) but should a Mayweather-McGregor fight actually happen, it would blow everything that had preceded it clean out of the water. Already fans, of both sports, will be groaning how there is absolutely no chance of the fight happening, but with the kind of astronomical money that would be generated by such a collision, who can say for absolute sure.
McGregor, when asked by Gareth A. Davies who was interviewing McGregor on BT Sports, if he “would ever get together in a boxing ring” with Mayweather, said he is “open to discussion.”
“Come at me,” McGregor said. “But I hold the key. It’s me that holds the key to that fight. I’m open-minded, I love competition and I love fighting. It would be interesting to see if we could make that fight happen if the fans wanted to see it. Obviously they would.”
Would you want to see it? If so, in which martial art: boxing or MMA?
McGregor’s coach, John Kavanagh, also spoke with Davies, and he said the would be super-fight could happen either in a boxing ring, an MMA cage or as a kickboxing bout:
“I think it would be incredible,” he said. “From us, it’s a ‘yes’ – whether it’s boxing, kickboxing or MMA, it’s a yes from us. It would be insane. What an honor it would be. A record-breaking event. The best MMA fighter versus the best boxer. Let’s do it.”
Let’s do it? It takes two to tango and it would be very interesting to hear what thoughts, if any, Mayweather has on this crazy but at the same time exciting idea. On a scale of 1 to 10, with 10 being the highest, I’d say there is around a “half,” or maybe a “1” chance of this fantasy fight taking place. Of course, the hype and the subsequent pay-per-view numbers would be as crazy as the concept if the two giants did clash in, say, Las Vegas. And YOU KNOW you would pay to see this one.
As to who would win: if the fight was fought under regular boxing rules, Mayweather would surely outclass, out-speed and outmanoeuvre McGregor. But if it took place as an MMA bout…….. No way would Floyd risk that zero he cherishes so much. No way.
But with the kind of mindboggling cash that would be on offer, you can never rule anything out; and that includes a Mayweather-McGregor bout scheduled for ten rounds under the universal rules of boxing.
