By Keith Idec

NEW YORK – Even when an animated Conor McGregor was yelling and pointing right in his face during their press tour, Floyd Mayweather Jr. never seemed all that concerned that McGregor would cross the proverbial line.

McGregor mocked Mayweather, attempted to knock his hat off his head and moved around him in a menacing manner during their instantly infamous promotional tour, which stopped in Los Angeles, Toronto, Brooklyn and London last week. Mayweather wasn’t fazed because he knew McGregor wouldn’t do anything dangerous to mess with the enormous sums of money they’re set to make for their heavily scrutinized boxing match August 26 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.

That’s the same confidence UFC president Dana White has regarding McGregor potentially losing his composure in their boxing match and using mixed martial arts maneuvers against Mayweather. Those that love watching train wrecks would enjoy nothing more than to see UFC’s biggest star strike the undefeated Mayweather with a roundhouse kick or a knee or an elbow when they square off in what is strictly supposed to be a 12-round, 154-pound boxing match next month (Showtime Pay-Per-View; $99.95 in HD).

White just can’t envision a scenario in which McGregor, no matter how badly Mayweather might be beating him, would resort to using MMA moves against the boxing legend. Not only would McGregor get disqualified, it would defeat the primary purpose for leaving the comfortable confines of UFC’s Octagon and participating in a boxing match that heavily favors Mayweather (49-0, 26 KOs) – making more money for a single fight than McGregor ever dreamed possible.

The Irish southpaw’s promoter made it perfectly clear the day this incomparable spectacle was officially announced last month that there are steep penalties in their contracts that would make McGregor avoid fouling Mayweather by using MMA moves. But reporters keep asking if it’s a concern, even if it’s something McGregor might just do instinctually, out of muscle memory more than malice.

“He would be sued beyond belief if he does anything other than hit Floyd Mayweather with his hands to the head and body,” White said during the press tour. “It would be a very bad – that can’t happen. That can’t happen. There’s actually language in the contract that that can’t happen.”

White wouldn’t divulge exactly how much of his purse McGregor would forfeit for fouling Mayweather with an MMA maneuver, but he suggested that most of McGregor’s money would go to Mayweather if that happened. Showtime Sports’ Stephen Espinoza called the contractual clause a “significant disincentive to doing something like that.”

“The details are gonna remain confidential,” Espinoza said, “but there is a significant penalty in the event of what I’ll describe as sort of an extreme foul – something out of the ordinary, beyond what would be a normal quote/unquote boxing foul.”

Losing most of his purse wouldn’t be the only financial penalty McGregor would encounter, either.

“If you look at Mayweather,” White continued, “you can include this fight, his last three fights and the amount of money he’s brought in, right, when you go to court any lawsuit is always about damages. And the damages on Mayweather if something like that happened would be massive. That can’t happen.

“Forget about the contract. He would just sue him. He would have a lawsuit against him that would be incredibly – I mean, it would destroy Conor’s life and Mayweather would win. Mayweather would win that lawsuit.”

Now that interest in Mayweather-McGregor is even more intense than anticipated, McGregor might make more than $100 million once the pay-per-view revenue and other income from the event is divided.

“It can’t happen,” White reiterated. “It absolutely cannot happen. Listen, Conor is a bit of a wild man. But he likes money just as much as Floyd does. So if he wants Floyd to have all his money, that’s the way to do it.”

McGregor, 29, wasn’t nearly as definitive as White when asked whether he might foul out of frustration.

“We’ll see on the night,” McGregor said.

There is some concern within Mayweather’s camp that McGregor might get frustrated and intentionally foul Mayweather. Nate Jones, Mayweather’s assistant trainer, told Submission Radio as much during an interview a few weeks ago.

“One way I can see the fight ending is Floyd out-boxing him, beating the crap out of him,” Jones said. “Another way I’m gonna be concerned about is when Floyd gets to a point where he frustrates him too much, McGregor’s gonna do something crazy. That’s the only thing I’m worried about.”

Jones even expressed some apprehension about what will happen within the rules.

“I would be more concerned about this fight because Floyd’s a little older now,” Jones said. “He’s 40 years old. McGregor has crazy weird power, and he’s got weird shots from weird angles. I’m worried about that. But for my prediction in the fight, is Floyd either confusing him and frustrating him and stopping him in the later rounds, or Floyd out-boxing him, or [McGregor] doing something stupid and losing the fight. That’s my prediction.”

White just hopes the things McGregor can do within the confines of boxing’s rules will be enough to make the fight more competitive than most experts expect from the two-division UFC champion’s boxing debut.

“One of the things that has made Floyd Mayweather as great as he is and go on the streak that he’s on, speed kills,” White said. “Floyd Mayweather has incredible defense and he’s fast. But here’s reality – reality is Floyd Mayweather will be 41 years old [next] year. Conor McGregor is a southpaw. If there’s any kink in that armor, if you wanna look at one thing, is when Floyd goes up against southpaws. McGregor is [29] years old and he hits like a truck. When McGregor hits people, he hurts them. And when he hurts them, he finishes ‘em. In a 12-round fight, is Conor ever gonna hit him once? I believe he will. I believe he’ll hit him more than once, and we’ll see what happens when Floyd gets hit.”

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