Two years after Conor McGregor declared in an Esquire interview that he would “kill” the boxer Floyd Mayweather Jr. in “less than 30 seconds,” it appears that McGregor, a mixed martial arts star, will get his chance. ADVERTISING Two years
Two years after Conor McGregor declared in an Esquire interview that he would “kill” the boxer Floyd Mayweather Jr. in “less than 30 seconds,” it appears that McGregor, a mixed martial arts star, will get his chance.
The two fighters announced their long-awaited fight on social media on Wednesday, with Mayweather posting a promotional video for the bout on Instagram along with the caption “IT’S OFFICIAL!!!” and McGregor writing on Twitter, “THE FIGHT IS ON.”
McGregor, the Ultimate Fighting Championship lightweight champion, agreed to the fight last month, but negotiations over Mayweather’s terms had been considered more difficult.
Their pay-per-view fight is expected to generate huge amounts of money. The chief executive of Mayweather Promotions, Leonard Ellerbe, was asked Wednesday night if the fight could gross half a billion dollars. “Yes, of course, why not?” Ellerbe responded. “It’s a very, very hot fight, and a fight that the fans want.”
Mayweather’s 2015 fight against Manny Pacquiao cost between $90 and $100 to watch on pay-per-view and drew an estimated 4.4 million viewers. Overall, it generated close to $600 million in revenue, according to ESPN.
“We have actually tapped into the audience that doesn’t really follow either sport,” said Stephen Espinoza, the executive vice president of Showtime Sports. “All of a sudden people who have never really been interested in MMA or boxing are interested in this due to the nature of the competition.”
Earlier Wednesday, the Nevada State Athletic Commission approved a request by Mayweather Promotions to hold a boxing event in Las Vegas on Aug. 26. The request was for an event to be broadcast on Showtime, which had an exclusive agreement with Mayweather.
White told ESPN on Wednesday that the fight would be held at T-Mobile Arena. The fight will be at 154 pounds, for 12 rounds, with the fighters wearing 10-ounce gloves.
Mayweather, who has won multiple belts as a boxer and is 49-0, has not fought since September 2015. After winning that fight, against Andre Berto, he announced his retirement for a second time. In March, Mayweather announced that he was coming out of retirement specifically to fight McGregor.
McGregor is the most accomplished and charismatic star on UFC’s roster, holding a career record of 21-3. His last fight was a second-round technical knockout against Eddie Alvarez at UFC 205 in November, which added the lightweight title to the featherweight belt he already possessed.
Mayweather figures to have a significant advantage because the fight will be a straight boxing match, although McGregor was a youth boxing champion and boxing is considered his best skill.
“This is the unknown factor,” Ellerbe said, adding that he was “impressed” with McGregor’s stand-up game.
Most observers are less impressed and do not expect the fight to be competitive: Mayweather was listed as a -1100 favorite at the Westgate Las Vegas SuperBook, meaning bettors would have to risk $1,100 on Mayweather to win just $100.
