Former five division world champion Floyd Mayweather and mixed martial arts champion Conor McGregor - the kingpins of their respective sports - announced Wednesday they would fight on August 26 in Las Vegas.
The fight will take place at the T-Mobile Arena and it would be a boxing match at 154-pounds with 10 ounce gloves. The fight will be carried by Showtime Pay-Per-View.
McGregor is the top pay-per-view draw in UFC while Mayweather had been the moneyspinner in some of boxing's biggest bouts, including matchups with Filipino legend Manny Pacquiao and US star Oscar De La Hoya. Mayweather earned $250 million for his fight against Pacquiao.
Neither Mayweather or McGregor have competed this year. Mayweather retired from pro boxing in 2015 after defeating Andre Berto, while McGregor (21-3) defeated Eddie Alvarez in November 2016.
White said the key to finalizing the fight was luring Mayweather out of his 23-month retirement.
The boxing format heavily favours the undefeated Mayweather (49-0, 26 KOs) who many consider to be the best pound-for-pound fighter in the world.
McGregor, a 28-year-old Irishman, will be entering unknown territory as he has not stepped in a boxing ring since he was a teenager.
Despite having little or no boxing experience, White insists his MMA client McGregor is confident of victory. McGregor is UFC's only simultaneous two-division champion.
There will, of course, be no titles on the line, but it is an opportunity for both to cash in financially. The fight is expected to be a pay-for-view blockbuster, as organizers are hoping it can challenge the 4.6 million pay-per-view buys for Mayweather-Pacquiao.
“This is really an unprecedented event,” said Stephen Espinoza, who heads Showtime Sports, which will handle the pay-per-view. “Really we haven’t seen anything in modern history that resembles it, it’s impossible to predict how many sales this will do.”
“All parties were motivated and reasonable and thrilled we could get everything done. The sky’s the limit on this. As with every Mayweather and McGregor fight part of the appeal is the spectacle and outsize personalities who are participating in it."
The trash-talking Irishman has a dedicated fan base and knows how to sell tickets. In his last fight, McGregor won the lightweight title from Alvarez in November 2015 in UFC's first Madison Square Garden card.
At one time promoters were looking at a September 16 date for Mayweather-McGregor but it is now taken by a Canelo Alvarez-Gennady Golovkin middleweight world championship fight at T-Mobile Arena.
McGregor received a California boxing license last year but is still waiting for his Nevada boxing license application to be approved.