Floyd Mayweather is ready to come out of retirement to face Conor McGregor as early as June if he can reach an agreement to fight the UFC lightweight champion.
Mayweather has been touring the United Kingdom over the past week and due to his close proximity to McGregor’s home in Ireland, it’s no wonder his name has come up a lot during appearances.
Mayweather has said a lot about McGregor recently but now he’s officially declared that he’s ready to end his retirement from boxing for the proposed super fight if they can get a deal done.
“Today, I’m officially out of retirement for Conor McGregor,” Mayweather said in a video posted by FightHype.com. “We don’t need to waste no time. We need to make this [expletive] happen quickly. Let’s get it on in June.”
Mayweather retired in 2015 following a win over Andre Berto that moved his career record to 49-0 while winning titles in several different weight classes.
Since that time, Mayweather has largely scoffed at the idea of returning to the ring until the proposed fight with McGregor started inching closer towards reality.
Since Mayweather stepped away from combat sports, McGregor has ascended the throne as the top draw on pay-per-view while competing in the UFC.
The battle over that top spot appears to be the stumbling block to making a fight with McGregor go from rumor to reality, but Mayweather says his track record is proven so it’s the Irishman who needs to concede to take a lower portion of the proceeds for a potential pay-per-view.
“When I faced Arturo Gatti, I went to his turf. He was the ‘A’ side, I was the ‘B’ side. I beat him, I didn’t cry, I didn’t complain. When I faced Oscar De La Hoya, he was the ‘A’ side, I was the ‘B’ side. I didn’t cry, I didn’t complain, I beat him, and I became the A side. For Conor McGregor, I’m coming out of retirement, just to fight Conor McGregor,” Mayweather said.
“I don’t want to hear no more excuses about the money, about the UFC. Sign the paper with the UFC so you can fight me in June. Simple and plain. Let’s fight in June. You’re the ‘B’ side, I’m the ‘A’ side. We’re not here to cry about money. I’m tired of all this crying about money and talking about you want to fight. You blowing smoke up everybody’s ass. If you want to fight, sign the paperwork, let’s do it.”
Mayweather has been sending messages just like this one to McGregor for days already but the UFC champion has yet to respond.
McGregor has contended that Mayweather’s drawing power isn’t what it once was, especially when considering the paltry numbers he got for his retirement fight in 2015. Since then, McGregor has been selling millions of pay-per-views while headlining cards in the UFC and that part of the negotiation seems to remain the biggest obstacle from making a fight with Mayweather come together.
Still, Mayweather says McGregor has been as “quiet as a church mouse” now that he’s serious about making the fight happen and according to the former boxing champion he’ll be ready as early as June. Whether or not the fight comes together in that short amount of time remains to be seen.
Article courtesy of FOX Sports
http://www.foxsports.com/ufc/story/floyd-mayweather-officially-out-of-retirement-for-conor-mcgregor-fight-031117
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