Floyd Mayweather claims Conor McGregor 'can't punch', open to $300 million paydays
Floyd Mayweather faced Conor McGregor in a professional boxing match back in August of 2017, handily defeating the latter via TKO in round 10 of their matchup.
Mayweather hasn’t competed in a professional boxing match ever since, with his last notable combat sports contest being an exhibition boxing match against Tenshin Nasukawa at RIZIN 14 in late 2018.
In what turned out to be a one-sided beat-down, Mayweather emerged victorious against Nasukawa in the aforesaid exhibition matchup via first-round TKO.
Floyd Mayweather jibes at Conor McGregor’s punching power and pugilistic skills
On an edition of Shannon Sharpe’s Club Shay Shay podcast, Floyd Mayweather addressed the possibility of a rematch against UFC icon Conor McGregor.
Mayweather asserted that he’d be open to face McGregor in a boxing match once again, provided that the matchup earns the former a $300 million payday.
Besides, Mayweather noted that the bout would go the same way and end up with the same results as it did back in 2017.
Mayweather emphasized that health is wealth and he’s open to the idea of fighting someone as inexperienced in the professional boxing realm as Conor McGregor or Khabib Nurmagomedov.
Floyd Mayweather indicated that fighting a well-trained young professional boxer would be relatively riskier as compared to facing McGregor or Nurmagomedov; both of whom are top-tier MMA fighters but lack experience in the professional boxing dominion.
Furthermore, Mayweather opined that he’s already enjoyed his era of dominance in the world of professional boxing and that the current era belongs to the younger boxers.
Mayweather reiterated, however, that fighting McGregor or Nurmagomedov would fetch him $300 million each, enabling him to procure a $600 million payday for boxing bouts against relatively inexperienced pugilists.
‘Money’ opined that it wouldn’t hurt to fight McGregor and Nurmagomedov, as they’d primarily be entertainment-centric matches rather than legitimately tough challenges for him.
As regards the infamous uppercut that McGregor caught Mayweather with early in their fight, the latter stated –
“Conor McGregor can’t punch…He can’t punch. I don’t even remember (the uppercut). I’m having fun. I was like – This dude punch so soft.” (*H/T Sportskeeda for the transcription)
McGregor, on his part, had claimed that he’s learned from his mistakes and would make the necessary adjustments in a rematch against Mayweather.
Nevertheless, Mayweather downplayed the significance of any adjustments McGregor could make in a rematch – The boxing legend jested that McGregor knows what he did wrong and is also well aware of what he did right.
Mayweather continued that what McGregor did wrong was fight the former in a professional boxing match, and what McGregor did right was fight him simply to get a lucrative payday.
Floyd Mayweather highlighted that he’s surely open to facing McGregor in a rematch because he doesn’t like the latter at all.
Will Floyd Mayweather face Conor McGregor or Khabib Nurmagomedov?
Although Floyd Mayweather is unlikely to face either Conor McGregor or Khabib Nurmagomedov in an MMA bout, he could face them inside a boxing ring.
Conor McGregor is said to be facing Dustin Poirier purportedly in an exhibition MMA match later this year, whereas reigning UFC Lightweight Champion Khabib Nurmagomedov is scheduled to face Interim titleholder Justin Gaethje later this month.
Would you like to see Floyd Mayweather box against Conor McGregor or Khabib Nurmagomedov? Sound off in the comments.