By Allan Fox: Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Conor McGregor are saying that that their mega-fight is now official for August 26 at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Nevada. This is the same venue that Mayweather fought Manny Pacquiao at in 2015 in the ‘fight of the century’ on HBO/Showtime pay-per-view.
Bookies are anticipating over £100 million could be bet across the globe on the mega-fight between Conor McGregor and Floyd Mayweather following the confirmation of the highly anticipated match-up on Wednesday night.
William Hill make Floyd ‘Money’ Mayweather their 1/12 favorite (Bet £12 to make a £1 profit) – with Conor ‘ The Notorious’ McGregor a 6/1 outsider. McGregor is rated a 7/1 shot to KO Mayweather, while the unbeaten boxer is rated a 6/5 chance to win on points.
By Adam Godfrey: Sparking rumors that an official announcement regarding a fight between Conor McGregor, the biggest name in MMA, and Boxing legend Floyd Mayweather is finally imminent, Mayweather’s promotional company has booked the MGM Grand in Las Vegas on both the 25th and 26th of August. This booking has been confirmed on the Hotel and Casino’s website. Mayweather made the MGM his home away from home in fighting no less than the final twelve fights of his career at the venue (beginning with Oscar De La Hoya and ending with Andre Berto), and should a deal between the two be agreed it is difficult to envisage the duel being held anywhere else.
By Allan Fox: Oscar De La Hoya says he wanted to make sure that he snatched the September 16th date in Las Vegas for the Saul Canelo Alvarez vs. Gennady “GGG” Golovkin BEFORE Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Conor McGregor could take the date. Call it paranoia on De La Hoya’s part if you want, but it’s better safe than sorry.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bpYudSMXCpA
By Allan Fox: UFC president Dana White says his fighter Conor McGregor should get 50-50 split of the revenue for his proposed mega-fight against boxer Floyd Mayweather Jr. White sees the 29-year-old McGregor as a big enough name for him to get 50 percent of the loot for the Mayweather fight. That’s not going to fly with Mayweather, who feels he’s the bigger name in this fight.
By Allan Fox: Oscar De La Hoya is still railing on the Floyd Mayweather Jr. vs. Conor McGregor fight being bad for the sport of boxing in general. De La Hoya sounded off on the subject last week when he tore into the Mayweather-McGregor fight in seeing it as little more than just a money grab due to Mayweather facing a novice in boxing. McGregor has never fought in a boxing ring, and he’ll be going into the Mayweather fight with no experience in the sport.
By Allan Fox: Floyd Mayweather Jr’s circus fight against UFC star Conor McGregor has Golden Boy Promotions boss Oscar De La Hoya concerned that the fight could do irreparable harm to boxing by driving fans away from the sport due to the match being such a horrible one. De La Hoya points out that boxing is only now starting to recover from the fiasco of the 2015 Mayweather vs. Manny Pacquiao mega-fight, which turned out to be a badly overpriced fight that cost the boxing fans plenty and failed to deliver action despite the build-up and hype surrounding the fight.
By Allan Fox: WBC lightweight champion Mikey Garcia says he’s open to either sparring or fighting Conor McGregor before he fights Floyd Mayweather Jr. this year. Mikey says they can arrange a weight to fight each other at if he wants to test himself before he faces Mayweather. Mikey is willing to fight the 28-year-old McGregor at a catch-weight at either welterweight or junior middleweight.
By Allan Fox: In the past, Floyd Mayweather Jr. had a habit of taking the Mexican holidays for his fights, but it won’t be the case if he makes the Conor McGregor fight, as the next holiday has already been scooped up by the Saul “Canelo” Alvarez vs. Gennady “GGG” Golovkin fight on September 16. According to Canelo’s promoter Eric Gomez of Golden Boy Promotions, they do not intend on moving off the September 16 fight date, which falls on the Mexican Independence Day holiday weekend.
By Allan Fox: Conor McGregor has signed an agreement for a mega-fight against Floyd Mayweather Jr., but now he’s waiting for him to sign his part. McGregor says Mayweather needs to sign the contract or else he’s just a mouth that talks. Mayweather (49-0, 26 KOs) is still saying that there’s no rush for him to sign for the fight against the 28-year-old McGregor. Mayweather wants to make sure that he’s the “A-side” in the promotion. He’s confident that he will be fighting the UFC star when he gets back inside the ring for his next and perhaps final fight of his career.