UPDATED 2/14/17 7:00 p.m. ET:
Without referring to Conor McGregor by name, Mayweather appeared to deny that any such fight is close to fruition, so it's probably time to readjust your excitement level. "There seems to be several rumors floating around media recently however, let the record show, there hasn't been any deals made in regards to a fight between myself and any other fights" Mayweather tweeted on Tuesday evening. "I am happily retired and enjoying life at this time! If any changes are to come, be sure that I will be the first to let the world know!"
Guess that's what we get for listening to Stephen A. Smith.
Original Story Below
Rumors about a potential Floyd Mayweather/Conor McGregor fight are swirling around again on Tuesday, and it’s all thanks to a report from The Sun that suggests McGregor is making a trip to the United States this week to agree to a multimillion-dollar deal to fight Mayweather. According to a source close to McGregor who spoke with The Sun, the UFC star is close to agreeing to a deal, and if not for a "third party hold-up" (is it you, Dana White?), the deal would have already been signed.
Whether you choose to believe that report or not is up to you—The Sun doesn’t always get these things right, and their report on the fight is missing a lot of key details—there is some reason to believe that the talks surrounding the fight might be advancing, according to Mayweather himself. The 39-year-old boxer attended the Warriors/Thunder game in Oklahoma City on Saturday night, and he spoke with ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith while he was there. SAS appeared on First Take on Tuesday morning and talked about a brief conversation he had with Mayweather at the game and revealed that Mayweather said he was "very, very close" to agreeing to a fight with McGregor.
"It’s not finalized," SAS said. "There are details to be worked out. He did not confirm that a deal had been done as of yet. But as you know, I’ve known Floyd for years, and he had a smile on his face. He said, 'We’re getting there. We’re getting very, very close.' He believes he has the potential to make even more money than he made fighting [Manny] Pacquiao. He doesn’t need it. He doesn’t need it at all. But Floyd is all about business. His whole thing is that it has to be the right deal business-wise. It has to be worth his time."
SAS went on to say that the fact that McGregor could help Mayweather market the potential fight is appealing to him.
"Floyd usually has to market his fights," he said, "because the guys that he fought against, he had to do all the promoting and the talking. He won’t have to do that with McGregor, and he knows it. So that part of it has him excited from a business perspective. Again, I want to make sure that everybody understands: He did not confirm that it’s done. He said, 'It’s close.' He thinks it’s going to happen. But his words are: 'It’s never happening until it’s officially happening.'"
Now, we should point out that Los Angeles Times reporter Lance Pugmire has spoken with several Mayweather sources who have told him that there is no truth to The Sun report:
But it does sound like Mayweather spoke with SAS—and it also sounds like he's still, at the very least, open to the idea of discussing a fight with McGregor. So if nothing else, these Mayweather/McGregor fight rumors are going to continue to have legs.
