According to a report in the Los Angeles Times, there are serious ongoing negotiations to finalize the fall cross-sport boxing match between former five division world champion Floyd Mayweather Jr. and UFC superstar Conor McGregor.
The paper indicates that UFC President Dana White is not involved in the negotiations. Both sides are pushing to finalize the pay-per-view bout for a date in "early fall"
The talks are between the UFC ownership group — Ari Emanuel’s Beverly Hills agency WME-IMG — and Mayweather’s adviser Al Haymon, the head of Premier Boxing Champions.
Mayweather (49-0, 26 KOs), 40-years-old, retired from boxing in September 2015 after dominating Andre Berto over twelve rounds. He announced in April that he was coming back to the ring - but only for a fight with McGregor.
McGregor has been out of the cage since November, when he became the UFC’s first simultaneous two-division champion when he stopped Eddie Alvarez at Madison Square Garden to win the lightweight (155-pound) belt.
As far as McGregor's portion of the deal, the fighter and the UFC were able to iron out the financial terms last month - which was a big piece of the puzzle as the UFC have McGregor under an exclusive contract and the fighter was risking the possibility of a legal battle by going around them to make the deal.
Last month, Showtime Sport head Stephen Espinoza advised BoxingScene.com that his network will be involved in the pay-per-view and the promotion of that event. Mayweather held an exclusive six fight contract with Showtime, which finished out when he beat Berto - but the boxer has a very close relationship with the network and his fighters are showcased on their airwaves on a regular basis.
Mayweather wants to showcase some of his fighters on the card - specifically IBF super featherweight champion Gervonta Davis and former WBC super middleweight champion Badou Jack, who may potentially challenge WBA "regular" light heavyweight champion Nathan Cleverly as part of that event.