Boxing legend Floyd Mayweather Jr. and MMA superstar Conor McGregor announced they would be fighting on Aug. 26 in what promises to be one of the most intriguing matchups in fight history.
Kevin Iole of Yahoo Sports first reported the fight had been agreed to by both Mayweather and McGregor. Mayweather then confirmed on Instagram.
Dana White said on Instagram that the fight will be at 154 pounds and take place at T-Mobile Arena, per MMAFighting.com.
Mayweather, 40, retired from boxing in Sept. 2015 after defeating Andre Berto and moving to 49-0 in his professional fighting career. But he continued to hint at a possible return to the ring and told FightHype.com in May 2016 that he was considering a bout against an MMA fighter.
That fighter ultimately ended up being McGregor, 28, the UFC lightweight champion. McGregor is 21-3 in his professional fighting career (9-1 in the UFC) and has ascended to superstardom in the sport.
The two fighters engaged in a long, often-public negotiation over the ensuing months. McGregor’s contract with the UFC and Mayweather’s lofty expectations for his payout made putting together this superfight particularly complicated.
Now, however, McGregor will face Mayweather in what could be the most lucrative fight for both superstars in their respective careers.
That doesn’t mean it will actually be a great fight. It’s possible it will be a lopsided boxing match in favor of Mayweather—who is considered to be one of the greatest boxers of all time—though comedian and MMA analyst Joe Rogan said in May 2016 that it’s possible McGregor could make things interesting, as he revealed on his podcast (via Jed Meshew of MMA Fighting):
“One of the things we know about Conor is he has a ridiculous belief in himself and he has unbelievable power. One of the things we know about Floyd is he’s [40]. So when a guy turns [40], you never know. For every guy like Bernard Hopkins, there’s a bunch of guys where the wheels just fall off and all of a sudden they can’t take a punch anymore and they can’t fight anymore, they don’t move good anymore. But I can’t imagine a world where he’s not light years past Conor with boxing skill.”
That last line seems the most prescient. Mayweather showed little sign of decline later in his career, and his tactical, defensive style of fighting likely aided his longevity in the fighting game. It’s unlikely Mayweather would ever engage in the sort of brawl McGregor would need to defeat Money.
But in the ring, anything is possible, and McGregor is no slouch. Still, much like he would have a dramatic advantage in an MMA fight against Mayweather, it’s hard to imagine Mayweather won’t have a significant advantage in a boxing match.
The world will finally get the definitive answer when Mayweather and McGregor square off on Aug. 26.
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