Boxing
Dan Rafael, ESPN Senior Writer 6y

Floyd Mayweather: If I come out of retirement, it'll be for a UFC fight

Boxing, MMA, UFC

LAS VEGAS -- Floyd Mayweather said Saturday night that if he elects to come out of retirement, it will be to fight in the UFC.

While promoting his Showtime-televised tripleheader ringside at The Joint inside the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino, Mayweather told the network's Jim Gray that "retirement has been great, but as you know and everyone knows, I go in retirement and I come back."

"It is possible I do come back, but if I do come back, it has to be in the Octagon," Mayweather said. "I spoke with my team. I spoke with [adviser] Al Haymon. Al Haymon says no. I spoke with Showtime. I spoke with [Showtime parent company] CBS. If I do come back, Showtime and CBS have to be involved."

Mayweather did not specify who he would want to fight, but UFC star Conor McGregor would be the biggest bout.

McGregor crossed over to boxing in August, and Mayweather knocked him out in the 10th round of the second-highest grossing fight in history. But McGregor faces various legal charges for his rampage that left fighters injured and a bus window broken during an incident at the Barclays Center in New York ahead of Saturday night's UFC 223 card.

"I feel that when you have reached such high status, you have to carry yourself in a classy way," Mayweather said of McGregor. "Outside the ring, you have to carry yourself as a gentleman."

If Mayweather goes into an MMA fight, he said it would be at 145 pounds. When he boxed McGregor, they did the fight at 154 pounds.

Asked again if he would come back, Mayweather responded, "Absolutely. If the money is right. You got to talk to Showtime, CBS. The money is going to be crazy. I can do whatever I want to do. I'm Floyd Mayweather."

Speaking following UFC 223 in New York, UFC president Dana White said he's sure Mayweather would be well-compensated if he decided to fight in the UFC.

"[Mayweather] knows the money's right," White told ESPN's Brett Okamoto. "I'm pretty confident that this will happen."

One thing Mayweather said is certain is that he is done with boxing.

"I would not box again," he said.

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