By Edward Chaykovsky
According to UFC champion Conor McGregor, it was retired former five division world champion Floyd Mayweather Jr. (49-0, 26KOs) who started rumors about the two of them fighting and called him out in the press.
McGregor created worldwide headlines last week when he obtained a license to box in the state of California.
McGregor has been calling out Maweather several months. Mayweather himself has fueled their ongoing war of words by stating in several interviews, and on social media, that he was open to idea of facing McGregor in a boxing match.
Earlier this year, several overseas newspapers began reporting that a rumor was circulating behind the scenes that a Mayweather vs. McGregor fight was possible.
Mayweather would later confirm that he was the person who started those rumors.
"There was a name that was shot at me. But the rumors that y'all have been hearing [are] the rumors I started. It may not be a rumor. Keep your fingers crossed," Mayweather told Fighthype.com.
Mayweather then sat down for a Showtime televised interview and threw more gasoline in the fire.
"It's really not a rumor. The fight may happen. We really don't know, as of right now. As of right now. But do I think the fight will happen? Absolutely," Mayweather said. "We're the A-side, of course. It has to be a boxing match, because most fights that Conor McGregor won inside the Octagon, he was a stand-up guy. So I'm pretty sure it's gonna be a tough fight for me. We really don't know as of right now, but there's been a lot of talk, and hopefully we can make the fight happen."
"He’s no pushover. One thing about Conor McGregor, he’s no pushover. He fell short in his last bout, but a true champion can always bounce back. So that’s a guy that I can’t overlook. But no numbers -- we haven’t picked a venue, we haven’t talked about money yet."
McGregor claims he wasn't even thinking about fighting Mayweather until Floyd went out in the press and started pushing the fight.
"Originally, what happened was Floyd called me out. That's originally what happened. I don't care about Floyd. I don't give a f***ing about Floyd," McGregor said. "I don't fear no man under no rule set. So I'm sitting there minding my own business dominating through fighting and Floyd calls me out and leaks a rumor that we're supposed to fight or something like that.
"But what I done was it opened up my eyes a little bit — well, hold on, maybe I can pursue the boxing side. Maybe there's something there. So we went to it. We're in the background with negotiations, we'll see what happens. Now I have my boxing license. Now it's their move now. I've presented myself, now I have the boxing license."
