If you can’t beat ’em, join ’em
Floyd Mayweather Jr. laughs off a possible bout with Conor McGregor.
And yet with a quicksilver ability to switch moods, the retired and undefeated boxing champion says a crossover faceoff with the UFC superstar is the only thing that could tempt him back into the ring.
It’s quite clear that while Mayweather the boxer plays hard to get, Mayweather the businessman sees dollar signs neatly dancing in his head like the Radio City Music Hall Rockettes.
He should be in that frame of mind after UFC president Dana White said he was willing to pay “Money” and McGregor $25 million each, plus a pay cut in pay-per-view for a match White said would be in boxing, not mixed martial arts.
White said Mayweather’s 2015 fight with our ring icon-turned-senator Manny Pacquiao generated a record 4.6 million PPV buys. But the disappointing bout of the century “left such a bad taste in everybody’s mouth” that no one wants to see both in a rematch, White told the Los Angeles Times.
The UFC chief executive said while he would be unhappy if a fusion fight between Mayweather and McGregor “didn’t do 2.3 million PPV buys… the upside is it could do like the Manny Pacquiao fight.”
While Money wavers, Canelo Alvarez, the current marquee name in boxing, through his promoter, ex-world champion Oscar de la Hoya, head of Golden Boy Promotions said a mythical encounter between him and McGregor would be a sure hit.
Alvarez has joined the derby to face the flamboyant McGregor although he is scheduled to fight Julio Cesar Chavez in May under a catch weight of 164 pounds.
Meantime, obviously acting under the theory that “if you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em,” Pacquiao has also inserted himself as a probable McGregor foe.
For the record, both Pacman and McGregor have been trying to lure Mayweather back in the ring.
Realizing that a match with his archrival is beyond reach, Pacquiao has joined the fray to make combat sports history, saying he would be willing to tangle with McGregor in the ring, not in the octagon.
The 38-year-old eight division ring champ and current senator is due to face unknown Australian Jeff Horn in April for the first of a four-fight farewell tour arranged by his promoter Bob Arum.
The tour does not culminate in a rematch with Mayweather.
Did Pacquiao speak about McGregor without Arum knowing?
I am quite sure alternative facts are forthcoming from the outspoken promoter.
