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Is this going to finally be the birth of Zuffa boxing? Or is there any chance Floyd Mayweather steps into the Octagon?
The idea that fans are someday going to see Floyd Mayweather in a pair of 4oz gloves is probably a pipe-dream. If Mayweather is going to be lured back to competition once again, it’s almost certainly going to be on terms that both make him look good, and promise a relatively high payday for minimal risk. Taking his first MMA fight at what would be age 43 does not sound like a promising combination of those factors.
Whatever he ends up doing, however, it seems that it will likely involve some kind of active competition, and UFC president Dana White plans on getting a piece of it.
White was recently spotted sitting court-side with Mayweather at a Celtics-Clippers game, back in November. The two men apparently came to some kind of handshake agreement at the time, with White telling reporters, “…we literally got a deal done right there on the court,” shortly afterward. And, just in case anyone thought that this might all be building up to something other than an actual bout for the multiple time boxing champion, in a recent interview with ESPN, White clarified those plans.
“Compete,” White said, when asked if this was a partnership deal or an actual plan to host a fight for Floyd Mayweather. “The money is in Floyd competing.”
“We’ll see,” he added, as to whether that meant Mayweather would fight in the UFC. “We can do some crossover stuff here or we can do something in boxing. Our last experience, Floyd was actually pretty easy to deal with. Haymon is incredible to deal with. Floyd and I got a handshake deal at the basketball game, and we’ll get the rest figured out.”
White explained that he plans to sit down with Mayweather’s promoter, Al Haymon, sometime over the summer, with the expectation of putting together a fight for fall 2020. Of course, with that kind of timetable, any number of twists, turns, or changes in course are possible. But, for the moment, it sounds like 2020 could see the UFC back in the Floyd Mayweather business. What that will actually look like is anyone’s guess.