Floyd Mayweather: Conor McGregor Doesn’t Deserve $100 Million Payday

The heat between UFC lightweight champion Conor McGregor and boxing legend Floyd Mayweather Jr. continues to resonate, as both men are persistently fueling the rumors that the two will eventually meet in a combat sports superfight inside a boxing ring soon.

Mayweather has been retired from the squared circle since achieving an incredible record of 49-0 after his 2015 unanimous decision win over Andre Berto, and has stated he is reluctant to return to fighting unless it’s for a crack at the heavy-handed Irish mixed martial arts (MMA) star.

During a recent interview with ESPN, Mayweather said he’ll offer ‘Notorious’ a $15 million payday to fight, but doesn’t think the 155-pound UFC champ is worth more than that:

“We tried to make the Conor McGregor fight. They know what my number is,” Mayweather said. “My number was a guaranteed $100 million, that was my number. We’re the ‘A’ side and I don’t really know how much money Conor McGregor has made. I’m pretty sure he hasn’t even made $10 million in a MMA bout.

“But we are willing to give him $15 million and then we can talk about splitting the percentage, the back end percentage on pay-per-view. But of course, we’re the ‘A’ side. How can a guy talk about $20 or $30 million if he’s never made $8 or $9 million?”

Mayweather would go on to reiterate what he’s said countless times before; the only fight that interests him and would force him out of retirement is a slugfest with ‘Mystic Mac’ because it would generate the most pay-per-view (PPV) numbers:

“I’m saying right here on this show, Conor McGregor keeps telling everybody he wants the fight — let’s make it happen,” Mayweather said. “Only thing that I’m probably interested in is the Conor McGregor fight,” Mayweather said. “I’m a businessman and it makes the most business sense, I think.”

Both men continue to exchange barbs in the media, and combat sports fans continue to wonder if this potentially lucrative superfight will ever happen. If ‘Money’ and ‘The Notorious One’ can find their way to a boxing bout on PPV, it could be the biggest sporting spectacle of our time.

You can check out Mayweather’s interview with ESPN here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N3TGGEt-m-E