Mayweather Vs. McGregor sounds like a matchup you'd only ever see in a video game, after unlocking a secret level with a cheat code. But believe it or not, this might end up happening in reality, with no cheat code required. What will be required to make this happen is an absolutely ENORMOUS amount of money.
Speaking with the LA Times earlier today, Conor McGregor confirmed his interest in fighting Floyd Mayweather. Conor even went so far as to claim that he's equally as powerful as Floyd in terms of putting butts in the seats AND selling Pay-Per-View subscriptions. And this equal footing means he deserves to be paid the big bucks.
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Conor wants $100 million to fight Floyd. That's a tad bit higher than the $7 million many analysts initially estimated when rumors of this fight started flying. Keep in mind that Floyd "retired" last September, but has recently indicated that he would be potentially interested in coming back, if he could earn a minimum $100 million. Here's how Conor justifies his eyebrow-raising figures:
"[Floyd's] talking $100 million, I'm also talking $100 million. I'm 27 years old… At 27, Floyd Mayweather was on Oscar De La Hoya's undercard. So compare that. He's getting old. I have the size, I have the reach. I have the height. I have the youth. He needs me. I don't need him. That's the truth of it. Who else can he fight? He fights someone else in the boxing realm, all of a sudden the pay goes from $100 million to $15 million. So if he wants to talk, we can talk, but it's me who is in control here."
Conor actually makes some really good points.
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I doubt Floyd would earn just $15 million if he made a comeback, but $100 million is going to be difficult without some crazy X-Factor… like fighting McGregor. Even if there was a Mayweather-Pacquiao rematch, it's unlikely that the PPV numbers could support the idea of Floyd earning the nine-figures he's demanding.
Assuming both Conor and Floyd are not going to back down from their $100 million payday demands, the real question is whether or not there's a company out there willing to pony up that kind of dough to make it happen. Will Showtime or HBO be willing to spend $200 million to put this fight together? And that number goes way up when you include all the other costs associated with putting on a fight. As a point of comparison, HBO spends roughly $100 million to produce an entire season of Game Of Thrones. So would they really want to risk the equivalent of three seasons worth of Game Of Thrones on one night of boxing that could end with a single punch in the first round?
Considering how much fun this would be to watch, I definitely hope someone finds a way to make this happen somehow!
