Unbeaten American professional boxer Floyd Mayweather will fight Irish mixed martial artist and UFC lightweight champion Conor McGregor in a much-hyped boxing match on August 26 in Las Vegas.
Mayweather and McGregor both confirmed the fight on social media on Thursday.
The fight, reportedly worth more than $100 million to Mayweather alone, will take place at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
The Nevada Athletic Commission on Wednesday approved the request from Mayweather Promotions to put on a boxing card.
The bout will be distributed via Showtime pay-per-view. It will be an entirely boxing card. Mayweather Promotions will be the lead promoter.
“Negotiations went smooth, Floyd is surrounded by some smart people and we got this thing done. The impossible deal is now done,” UFC boss Dana White told ESPN.
“It will be in a ring, it’s a boxing event. Mayweather Promotions will build the undercard for it.
“Conor McGregor is a guy who’s done a lot of good things over here (in UFC), for the sport and for this company. He wanted this and obviously the fans wanted it too.
“Not only for him - at the end of the day, my job is to make fights that the fans want to see.”
It is a stunning development given that Mayweather, the greatest boxer of his era, had said he was retired after compiling a 49-0 pro record from 1996 through 2015.
Mayweather is considered the greatest boxer of his generation and among the best of all-time. The fight with McGregor, in addition to paying him in excess of nine figures, will give him the opportunity to improve to 50-0.
McGregor is one of the elite mixed martial arts fighters in the world, but has never boxed before, either amateur or pro.
The fight will take place under normal boxing rules, with 12 rounds fought at 154 pounds.
He won the UFC’s featherweight title in a 13-second knockout of Jose Aldo on Dec. 12, 2015.
He then split a pair of non-title welterweight fights with Nate Diaz before knocking out Eddie Alvarez on Nov. 12, 2016, in New York to win the lightweight belt and become the first fighter to hold two UFC championships simultaneously.
Yahoo Sport
