Floyd Mayweather Jr. vs. Conor McGregor, also known as "The Money Fight" is an upcoming professional boxing match between undefeated eleven-time five-division professional boxing world champion Floyd Mayweather Jr. and the current UFC Lightweight Champion Conor McGregor. It will take place on August 26, 2017 at the T-Mobile Arena in Paradise, Nevada, United States.
Fight card
Main Card (PPV)
Light middleweight (154 lbs.) United States Floyd Mayweather Jr. vs. Republic of Ireland Conor McGregor
Super featherweight (130 lbs.) United States Gervonta Davis vs. Costa Rica Francisco Fonseca For IBF super featherweight title
Light heavyweight (175 lbs.) United Kingdom Nathan Cleverly vs. Sweden Badou Jack For WBA (Regular) light heavyweight title
Cruiserweight (200 lbs.) United States Andrew Tabiti vs. United States Steve Cunningham For vacant USBA cruiserweight title
Preliminary Card (FOX Prelims)
Welterweight (147 lbs.) Puerto Rico Thomas Dulorme vs. Cuba Yordenis Ugás
Welterweight (147 lbs.) United States Juan Heraldez vs. Mexico Jose Miguel Borrego
Super middleweight (168 lbs.) United States Kevin Newman vs. United States Antonio Hernandez
Super middleweight (168 lbs.) United Kingdom Savannah Marshall vs. United States Sydney LeBlanc
Background
Floyd Mayweather Jr. (left, photo taken in August 2010) and Conor McGregor (right, photo taken in March 2015)
Despite his success in the UFC mixed martial arts promotion, Conor McGregor maintained an interest in boxing competitively again and entertained the idea of a "money fight" with Floyd Mayweather Jr. Mayweather reportedly talked to Freddie Roach to train McGregor for the fight in case it would happen. UFC president Dana White dismissed the rumors of a fight with Mayweather on The Dan Patrick Show, stating that Mayweather would have to contact him since McGregor was under contract with the UFC. White even went as far as stating, "Here’s what I think the chances are (of the fight happening): About the same of me being the backup quarterback for Brady on Sunday," referring to Me die LI. In January 2017, it was reported that the two parties had entered an "exploratory phase" in negotiating a potential match between Mayweather and McGregor. On The Herd with Colin Cowherd, White openly offered to pay Mayweather $25 million to hold the proposed bout during a UFC event. He also predicted that pay-per-view viewership of the hypothetical bout could possibly rival Mayweather vs. Pacquiao.
On March 7, 2017, Mayweather called upon McGregor to "sign the paper" and "make it happen", arguing that "if Conor McGregor really wants this fight to happen, stop blowing smoke up everybody's ass." On March 10, 2017, Mayweather stated that only a fight with McGregor would make him come out of retirement. On March 16, 2017, Dana White backpedaled on his stance against a Mayweather-McGregor bout and said that he would not deprive McGregor in making a massive payday. On May 18, 2017, McGregor reportedly agreed to all of Mayweather's updated terms and signed the contract.
IBF super featherweight champion Gervonta Davis will participate in a co-main event. An international press tour was held from July 11–14.
On July 19, 2017, additional undercard details were released. To date, three names have been confirmed on the undercard, including British amateur boxer Savannah Marshall who signed up earlier in the year with Mayweather Promotions and Badou Jack who will be stepping up to fight at light heavyweight.
On a July 24, 2017 episode of the Pardon My Take podcast, hosted by BigCat and PFTCommenter, former heavyweight boxing champion Mike Tyson predicted McGregor "is going to get killed boxing."
A mural was painted in McGregor's Dublin training facility, Straight Blast Gym, depicting McGregor hitting Mayweather with a left-handed punch.
On July 26, 2017, it was announced that former welterweight titleholder Shawn Porter would be headlining the preliminary card, facing Thomas Dulorme.
On July 29, 2017, The Ring magazine reported that Gervonta Davis would defend his IBF World super featherweight title against former WBO champion Roman 'Rocky' Martinez.
On August 9, 2017, it was announced that Nathan Cleverly will defend his WBA light-heavyweight title against Money Man fighter Badou Jack.
The full card was announced on August 10, 2017.
Fight details
Broadcasting
In the United States, the fight will be televised via Showtime pay-per-view, avaliable through both traditional television providers and various digital services, including the Showtime website and the UFC's UFC.tv service. Fathom Events is also organizing public screenings. On July 10, 2017, it was announced that pricing for the PPV in the U.S. would mirror that of Mayweather vs. Pacquiao, being set at US$89.95 (with an additional $10 charge for high definition). It was also announced that Fox Sports (the television rightshoulder of the UFC) would provide shoulder programming for the fight, including coverage of the press tour on UFC Tonight, as well as a pre-show and preliminary card (similarly to those broadcast by Fox Sports 1 prior to UFC pay-per-views) on Fox and Fox Deportes. As with Mayweather vs. Pacquiao, Showtime is seeking an injunction against websites than plan to illegally stream the fight in violation of its copyrights.
Sky Sports Box Office will hold broadcasting rights to the fight in Ireland and the United Kingdom. Although it was initially believed that the price would match that of the U.S. PPV, the price was set at €24.95 and £19.95.
In Hispanic America, the fight will air on Fox Premium Action. In Brazil, the event will air on Globosat-owned Combate.
Indian Streaming Service, VEQTA will hold the exclusive broadcasting rights to the fight in India.
Viaplay will show the fight in Sweden, it will be available on PPV for 499kr.
Purses
Mayweather is expected to earn at least $100 million, increasing up to four times that amount if the event achieves all of its metrics. McGregor is expected to earn $75 million, but both men signed NDAs barring them from publicly communicating the financial details.
Attendance
The lowest-priced tickets still available on Ticketmaster as of August 22nd had a face value of $1,571; prices are $5,000 near the ring, and "platinum" seats cost up to $14,995.
Officials and rules
On August 16, 2017 the officials were named for the fight:
Referee: Robert Byrd
Judges: Burt Clements, Dave Moretti and Guido Cavalleri
Both athletes initially agreed to box in 10-ounce gloves per Nevada State Athletic Commission rules which require 10-ounce gloves for boxing matches contracted over 147 pounds (the fight is contracted at 154 pounds). McGregor wanted 8-ounce gloves and Mayweather agreed, and both athletes submitted formal requests to box in 8-ounce gloves, which was granted by the Nevada State Athletic Commission.
Aug 23 - Updated fight card & Fight details