Talk about Floyd Mayweather vs. Conor McGregor isn’t going away. In fact, if anything it’s getting louder. And it’s not just fans or pundits driving the conversation. It’s not even just the MMA community, or just Boxing that’s looking for a piece of this. McGregor and Mayweather are both interested, there’s been offers set down on the table. It has the feel of something that people are actively working to make happen.
Which, if you listen to longtime boxing promoter Bob Arum, is all “absolute nonsense.” TMZ recently caught up with Arum to get his thoughts on the McGregor vs. Mayweather talk, and he was thoroughly unimpressed by the idea.
“Well I think that… Let me tell you something: Conor McGregor is not a boxer, so if they box under boxing rules with the regular gloves and so forth, a novice will beat him,” Arum stated frankly. “Because he has no experience as a boxer. On the other hand, if they did the cage thing, Floyd wouldn’t have a chance. So, it’s just talk and it’s absolute nonsense for these guys to fight each other.”
And even though the fight is so unlikely, that didn’t stop Dana White from putting an offer of $25 million per-fighter up front to get it made. Why? Arum says White’s just flexing his position.
“He’s playing a game. Because Floyd is calling McGregor out. And the point is, McGregor has a contract with UFC. So no fight, even if McGregor wanted, can be done without UFC. So, this is Dana White’s way of establishing that point.”
That seems to be Mayweather’s take on it too, as he laughed at White’s $25 million offer, something Arum assures Mayweather is completely right to do.
“Yeah, because Floyd can fight a lot of fights with a lot of fighters for more than $25 million,” Arum said when asked if it made sense to turn down that much money. “And when he had the contract with Showtime, he made over $30 million a fight.”
Of course, Dana White added that the PPV cut would be negotiated between fighters and the promotion on top of the $25 million guaranteed purse. Maybe if the cut is big enough that will be enough to get things moving forward. Or maybe, if it’s the best the UFC is willing to do, it’s just a definitive sign that while McGregor is under contract he won’t be fighting Mayweather.
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