Mayweather interested in fighting Khabib and McGregor for $600 million

By Boxing News - 10/01/2020 - Comments

By Allan Fox: Floyd Mayweather Jr says he’d be interested in facing Conor McGregor again for another $300 million and UFC lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov for $600 million combined. Mayweather says likes the idea of fighting inexperienced guys rather than returning to the ring to face a young lion.

If Mayweather wants to fight McGregor, he will have to make a move quickly because Manny Pacquiao says he’s interested in fighting him, as long as he co-promotes the fight.  The Pacquiao-McGregor fight could take place in December or January.

Pacquiao could destroy the 32-year-old McGregor and make quick work of him. It’s safe to say that Mayweather can forget about ever fighting Conor again if Pacquiao annihilates the Irish fighter. Fans won’t want to pay to see Mayweather fight McGregor after he gets beaten up by Pacquiao.

But even if Pacquiao smashes McGregor in one or two rounds, Mayweather would still have the option of facing UFC star Khabib. That’s a fight that would bring in a good payday for Mayweather, but probably nowhere near $300 million.

The fans obviously know it would be a mismatch, and they’re not going to want to pay $100 per household to watch Mayweather beat up on a hapless MMA fighter, who has no idea how to box.

Image: Mayweather interested in fighting Khabib and McGregor for $600 million

The 43-year-old Mayweather claims that he’ll be doing business with UFC president Dana White this year or next year. Mayweather isn’t saying who he plans on fighting, but he

perked up when asked about whether he’d be willing to take on McGregor or Khabib.

Floyd says his health is his wealth, and he wants to make sure that he keeps his mental facilities as he gets older.

Mayweather wants McGregor rematch

“I could pick up an easy $300million? Absolutely,” said Mayweather to ClubShayShay when asked if he’d fight Conor McGregor again. Same way, the same result,” Floyd said when asked if he’d fight McGregor different.

“Dana White is a good dude. I have been knowing Dana White for 24 years, and this year or next year, me and Dana White are going to do some big business soon. This year or next year,” Mayweather said.

Floyd needs to make a move on McGregor quick if he wants to fight him because Pacquiao sounds very interested in facing him. Mayweather can maybe line up the rematch with McGregor before Pacquiao works a deal if he’s fast and ruthless.

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With McGregor having a good plan-B option with Pacquiao, Mayweather might not get the same cushy deal as he did the last time he fought Conor. Mayweather might need to give McGregor more dough to get him to sign on the dotted line.

Mayweather probably won’t be fast enough to work a deal with McGregor before Pacquiao does. There’s a lot of inertia with Mayweather now that he’s retired, and he’s not moving quickly and taking advantage of his popularity.

Mayweather’s fight with McGregor was three years ago in 2017, and since then, he’s only fought once in picking up a $9 million payday against Japanese kickboxer Tenshin Nasukawa in 2018. Mayweather should have fought a second time in 2017, twice in 2018 and 2019. and once this years.

If Mayweather had stayed busy with his career, he probably could have earned $300 million+ to go with his already huge bankroll. Mayweather isn’t one of those driven tycoons that work nonstop to increase their fortunes. He slacks off and loses out on a lot of great opportunities for making money with inactivity.

Floyd says $150 million to fight a boxer isn’t enough

“Not enough, absolutely not, ” said Floyd when asked if he would fight a boxer for $150 million. “My health is more important. Conor McGregor can’t punch, he can’t punch.

“I don’t even remember it [an uppercut that McGregor hit Mayweather with in their fight in 2017]. I was having so much fun. And I was like, ‘This dude is punching so soft. It’s cool.

Image: Mayweather interested in fighting Khabib and McGregor for $600 million

“You know why I remember that? Because I didn’t take no punishment. I still have all my facilities. That’s what’s so great about my career. Why would I go out there and fight these young fighters, these young lions, and risk my health?

“You look at my uncle Roger. You look at Muhammad Ali, and you look at all these different fighters. Your health is your wealth,” said Mayweather.

See what I mean when I say Mayweather isn’t that ambitious to make more money. He doesn’t want to fight for $150 million, which he says is too low, and yet he only made $9 million for his fight in 2018 against Tenshin Nasukawa. What does that tell you about Mayweather?

The average hard-working fan would obviously be more than willing to go after the $150 million, and they’d turn up their noses at the idea of taking a soft fight for only $9 million. You can argue that Mayweather has a lot of fear involved with trying to earn $150 million against a young lion from boxing.

Mayweather doesn’t want to mar his perfect 50-0 record, which he spent his entire career carefully building. For Mayweather to get a $150 million payday against a boxer, he’d have to fight someone like Canelo Alvarez, Errol Spence Jr, or Terence Crawford.

At 43, Mayweaher likely loses to all three fighters and looks as bad as Sugar Ray Leonard did when he came out of retirement to take on Hector ‘Macho’ Camacho.

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Mayweather talks $600M for Khabib and McGregor fights

“So as far as me going out there and competing against a guy like Conor McGregor, absolutely or a guy that’s really inexperienced,” said Mayweather on the type of fighters he’s willing to fight now.

“Absolutely,” said Mayweather hen asked if he’d fight Khabib Nurmagomedov from the UFC. “You have to make it make sense.

“Certain types of dollars. I still have to have my facilities also and still be sharp, and still be agile and hang out with my kids and still make smart investments.

“All of those things are very important and play a major part in my life. I had my era. It’s these young fighter’s era now. But it’s okay for me to go and fight a Conor or a Khabib.

Image: Mayweather interested in fighting Khabib and McGregor for $600 million

“From those two fights alone, I’d pick up $600 million. So that don’t hurt to fight guys for entertainment. It’s all entertainment. He knows what he did wrong and he also knows what he did right,” Floyd said about McGregor.

“What he did wrong was get in the ring with me. What he did right was get in the ring with me for a big payday,” said Mayweather.

Floyd has talked about wanting to fight McGregor and Khabib on the same night for a $600 million payday, but that’s not going to happen. Boxing fans would be asked to may more than $100 per household to watch Mayweather fight both of those guys. If it’s priced at $300 per household, the fans will ignore the fights and watch it later on Youtube or go the illegal stream route.

Also, Dana White might not want to let Mayweather fight Khabib and make him look bad by schooling him the way he did with McGregor. We saw what happened with Conor after he lost to Mayweather. He made a lot of money from that fight, and it did something to his ambition because he’s only fought once since then in the UFC.

When you get the kind of payday that McGregor got in his fight with Mayweather, you’ve got to be a special type of person to return to UFC. If Khabib is dedicated, then he might come back to the UFC to continue his career, but White might not want to take the chance of letting him face Mayweather.