Boxing legend Floyd Mayweather (49-0, 26 KOs) and Elite MMA fighter Conor McGregor officially announced they will face each other on August 26 at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas in a 12-round boxing match.
The 40-year-old Mayweather will unretire to pursue his 50th career victory as professional boxer against the UFC’s most successful fighter and biggest star.
The light middleweight combat will be Mayweather’s first fight since September 2015 when he announced his retirement for a second time after fighting fellow American Andre Berto. With that victory Mayweather tied Rocky Marciano’s 49-0 record.
Whatever the outcome, both fighters will ensure an exorbitant amount of money. Hours after the announcement of the bout, “Money” acknowledged that he hopes to win between $200 and $300 million , while the Irish fighter expects to earn about $100 million.
UFC president Dana White, announced that the fight will be contested at 154 pounds and it will be a standard, 12-round boxing match with 10-ounce gloves. White confirmed also that McGregor “is very excited. He believes with all his heart that he will bring down Mayweather.”
According to the Westgate Las Vegas Superbook, Mayweather is the big favorite. Mayweather’s line is at -1,100, while McGregor’s is at +700.
The 29-year-old McGregor will make his debut in professional boxing, but is 21-3 in mixed martial arts, with a 9-1 UFC record.
Conor McGregor started his boxing training when he was 12 at the Crumlin Boxing Club in Dublin, Ireland, under the tutelage of Olympic boxer Philip Sutcliffe. There he developed the striking technique he would later use in his mixed martial arts career, in which he focused when he was about 16.
Mayweather retired for the first time following his 2007 fight against Ricky Hatton claiming that he wanted to concentrate on his career as a boxing promotor. The retirement however lasted only 21 months as he came back Juan Manuel Marquez IN 2009.
The bout will be distributed via Showtime pay-per-view. It will be an entirely boxing card. Mayweather Promotions will be the lead promoter.
