By Allan Fox: Conor McGregor has confirmed that Floyd Mayweather Jr. WON’T be coming out of retirement to face him in a MMA fight. McGregor, 29, says Mayweather is out of the negotiations with him for the rematch.
McGregor says he’s happy that Mayweather will be staying retired, but he’s not surprised. He feels that the MMA sport is too grueling, and not like the typical sport. McGregor says he’ll be negotiating a fight with someone else instead. Whether that’s a boxing or MMA stuff match is unclear.
Mayweather is turning 41 on February 24, and it would have been difficult for him to go through 8 weeks of training in MMA for him to compete against McGregor in the octagon. There would have been so much for Mayweather to learn in a short period of time. As old as Mayweather is now, he might not have made it through the training camp without suffering a fight-postponing injury of some kind of another. MMA is a sport better suited to younger fighters. There aren’t too many 41-year-olds competing in MMA at the highest levels.
McGregor said this on his Instagram:
Mayweather made a massive amount of money from his previous fight with McGregor on August 26th last year on Showtime PPV at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada. Mayweather fought at a glacial pace, seemingly taking it easy on McGregor, who was making his pro debut in boxing after having been given a license to fight by the Nevada State Athletic Commission. Mayweather vs. McGregor was sanctioned as a professional fight by the Commission despite the vast difference in experience. Mayweather was 49-0 facing a fighter with a 0-0 record. It was jarring that the Nevada Commission agreed to sanction the fight because it was such a mismatch in terms of experience. The boxing and MMA fans didn’t care. They gladly purchased the Mayweather-McGregor fight thinking it would be a competitive fight. It wasn’t competitive. It was a mismatch, and not a particularly fight to watch. Still, 4.3 million fans ordered the fight on PPV, and it did incredibly well.
With the money Mayweather made from the fight, he doesn’t have a need to face McGregor in a rematch in an MMA event. Mayweather obviously doesn’t want to get embarrassed and potentially hurt by McGregor. In that sport, Mayweather could be tied in a knot by McGregor and beaten up on the mat. Mayweather obviously thought better of it and decided to stay retired.
If Mayweather does continue his boxing career, it’s likely he’ll pool from the MMA again and look for another popular fighter to compete against. Boxing and MMA fans aren’t going to keep purchasing fights involving Mayweather and unskilled fighters making their pro debut. Mayweather is 50-0 with 27 knockouts now after his win over McGregor. It would be nice to see Mayweather risk his unbeaten record against the winner of the Gennady Golovkin vs. Saul Canelo Alvarez rematch, but that’s too much to hope for obviously. Mayweather knows his limitations.