Shortly after a report surfaced on Tuesday claiming Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Conor McGregor have come to a financial agreement for a potential fight, ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith fueled the speculation even further.
Smith said on “First Take” Tuesday that he spoke with Mayweather over the weekend at the Golden State Warriors-Oklahoma City Thunder game, and Floyd claimed a bout between him and McGregor is “very close” to happening.
“It’s not finalized. There are details to be worked out. He did not confirm that a deal has been done as of yet, but he had a smile on his face and he said, ‘We’re getting there. We’re getting very very close,'” Smith said. “He believes he has the potential to make even more money than he made fighting (Manny) Pacquiao.”
Money is obviously a huge part of negotiations, especially when dealing with Mayweather. While Floyd has made it clear that he would not agree to anything close to a 50-50 split with McGregor, Smith said the undefeated boxer is “excited” about McGregor’s marketability.
“Floyd is all about business. His whole thing is that it has to be the right deal business-wise and has to be worth his time,” Smith added. “McGregor can market himself. Floyd usually has to market his fights, because with the guys he fought against he had to do all the talking and the promoting. He won’t have to do that with McGregor and he knows it. That part has him excited from a business perspective.”
According to The Sun, Mayweather and McGregor have worked out the financial parameters of the fight. But the Irishman would need permission from the UFC to be let out of his contract for an unprecedented cross-sport fight, and there have been no indications that UFC president Dana White is going to make that easy for his biggest star.
McGregor has already made some outlandish demands about how much money he wants to be guaranteed, but those were likely the starting point in his negotiations. In reality, he needs the fight more than Mayweather. Both men have plenty of money, but McGregor has never seen anything close to the type of money he could make by fighting Floyd.
