By Edward Chaykovsky

Retired former five division world champion Floyd Mayweather Jr. (49-0, 26 KOs), during his ongoing UK tour, sat down with Gareth Davies of The Telegraph to discuss the current situation with a potential fight with UFC superstar Conor McGregor.

The two athletes have been trading words in the press and on social media for the last year. Both of them are interested in coming together for a major pay-per-view event showdown.

Last month, Mayweather took part in a Showtime televised interview and continued to call for a boxing match with McGregor.

McGregor made a lot of noise last fall, when he secured a boxing license in the state of California. He is currently working out the details to land a boxing license in Nevada, as part of his plan to open the door for a Las Vegas fight with Mayweather or another high profile boxer.

The biggest obstacle in making this fight is McGregor's exclusive contract with the UFC. The organization is not likely going to allow their biggest star to take part in a fight where most expect him to be outclassed.

"The difference between me and him is this: He has to fight. If I was him and I was smart, before I lose again in the UFC I'd let Floyd Mayweather kick my ass for a lot of money. It makes business sense," said Mayweather to Davies.

"There's a difference between being an employee and an employer. If someone says 'I want to fight Floyd Mayweather', I can simply say 'yes, let's make it happen'. But when you've got a guy like Conor McGregor he has to talk to Dana White (the UFC president). Dana has to talk to Dana's bosses.

"Conor's not a shot caller. When they said 'Why is Floyd Mayweather not fighting Manny Pacquiao?', it was because Manny Pacquiao had a boss. I don't have a boss. We could have easily made the fight happen years ago. Everything happens for a reason. The first time I was going to fight Manny Pacquiao I was guaranteed $50 million but I had patience. And when I had patience that fight became a $300 million fight."

Maywearther, who retired in September 2015 after dominating Andre Berto over twelve rounds, says McGregor is also making ridiculous financial demands. McGregor has been quoted as requested as much as $100 million for the bout.

"I've had a 20-year run. You have to give respect to get respect. The UFC is a great company, a cool company. But I still haven't seen one fighter (in the UFC), and I'm going to give you a low number – from 10 years ago – make $30 million. But we built our brand to make it $100 million a fight and $300 million a fight," Mayweather said.

"If you haven't made $10 million you can't ask for $10 million. If you haven't made 20, you can't ask for 20. What you have to do is go to the Forbes and see what he's worth. I'm going to give you what you're worth. If he's worth five, we'll give him 10. If he's worth 10, we'll give him 20. We're talking about just one fight. We're going to choose one fight. In one fight I made more than Conor McGregor has made in his whole career."