By Keith Idec

Floyd Mayweather Jr. has told ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith that a much-discussed fight against Conor McGregor is “very, very close” to being finalized, according to an ESPN.com report Tuesday.

Mayweather was with Smith on Saturday at the Warriors-Thunder NBA game in Oklahoma City, where Mayweather passed along that information. Smith also said that Mayweather reminded him that nothing is official until contracts are signed.

The Irish Sun also reported for Tuesday’s editions that Mayweather and McGregor have agreed on financial terms to meet in a boxing match.

The retired boxing superstar and UFC’s biggest star have publicly discussed fighting one another in a boxing match for months, though many MMA and boxing fans have doubted that the fight will amount to much more than non-stop publicity for them. According to the Dublin-based tabloid's report, which cited an unnamed source for its information, McGregor will meet with Mayweather this week when the UFC lightweight champion is in Las Vegas to fulfill a Nevada State Athletic Commission disciplinary obligation.

“Conor McGregor and Floyd Mayweather have agreed [to] a deal to fight and have both settled on their respective fees,” the source close to McGregor told The Irish Sun. “The contract hasn’t officially been signed yet because of a third-party holdup, but all the details have all been agreed on. The fight could even be announced within two weeks.”

Las Vegas’ Mayweather (49-0, 26 KOs), who’ll turn 40 on February 24, hasn’t boxed since he easily out-pointed Andre Berto (31-4, 24 KOs) in a September 2015 fight in Las Vegas. He initially resisted talk of boxing McGregor, but has warmed to the idea in recent months because the undefeated five-division champion realizes he could make another enormous sum of money for a fight he’d be heavily favored to win.

Mayweather’s infamous fight against Manny Pacquiao (59-6-2, 38 KOs), which Mayweather won by unanimous decision in May 2015, generated more than $600 million in overall revenue. Mayweather is believed to have earned more than $250 million from the Pacquiao fight.

The 28-year-old McGregor, meanwhile, would make much more money for facing Mayweather than for any of his UFC fights. McGregor (21-3, 18 KOs) needs the UFC’s approval, however, to compete outside the framework of his exclusive UFC deal.

Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.