Mayweather willing to offer McGregor $15M, percentage of PPV for fight
Appearing on ESPN's First Take on Wednesday, boxing superstar Floyd Mayweather revealed that his team has an offer on the table for UFC lightweight champion Conor McGregor.
Both fighters have previously said they're looking for a seven-figure payout for the hypothetical bout, but Mayweather considers that to be an unreasonable demand on McGregor's part given his belief that "The Notorious" has yet to prove himself as a moneymaker.
"We tried to make the Conor McGregor fight," said Mayweather. "They know what my number is, a guaranteed $100 million. We're the A-side and I don't really know how much money he has made before, I'm pretty sure he hasn't even made $10 million in an MMA bout. But we are willing to give him $15 million and then we could talk about splitting the back-end percentage on PPV. Of course, we're the A-side. How can a guy talk about 20 or 30 million if he's never even made 8 or 9 million?"
Even given their wage gap, Mayweather still sees McGregor as the only worthwhile bout for him given the amount of buzz surrounding the dream match.
"I'm saying right here on this show: Conor McGregor keep telling everybody he wants the fight. Let's make it happen," said Mayweather.
"I'm a businessman and it makes more business sense," Mayweather added later in the interview. "I believe in working smarter, not harder."
Talk of a crossover bout between Mayweather and McGregor emerged last year when McGregor teased retiring from the UFC. He would eventually work things out with the promotion and go on to defeat rival Nate Diaz and Eddie Alvarez, which cooled talks of a match with Mayweather.
Now that McGregor has claimed titles in two UFC divisions, there is again talk of him going outside of MMA to find worthwhile challenges.
The decision isn't entirely up to McGregor, something that Mayweather understands. UFC contracts are infamously restrictive and any bout between Mayweather and McGregor, whether in the ring or the Octagon, would likely be dependent on the cooperation of company president Dana White.
It's a point of pride for Mayweather that he calls his own shots when it comes to his career, something he says differentiates him from McGregor and every other star athlete.
"I paved the way before Conor McGregor," said Mayweather. "Floyd Mayweather been dominating since the '90s. Not just as a boxer. You can't tell me no other athlete that's been at the top for 20 years."