By Edward Chaykovsky

Retired former five division world champion Floyd Mayweather Jr. (49-0, 26 KOs) admitted during an interview that he wants to compete again, and says UFC superstar Conor McGregor is no different than finalizing a fight against another pro boxer.

Mayweather has been mulling the idea of coming back for fight number 50, but he says the contest would have to make sense - and pay him at least a guaranteed sum of $100 million.

For the last year, Mayweather has been calling for a fight with McGregor and says the MMA puncher is the only opponent, at least for now, that interests him enough to enter the ring.

Mayweather has been attacked by a lot of critics for his persistence in returning for a fight with McGregor instead of a top level fighter like WBC/WBA welterweight champion Keith Thurman, WBO 154-pound champion Saul "Canelo" Alvarez, or even middleweight king Gennady Golovkin.

McGregor, although a tremendous underdog even against a 40-year-old Mayweather, brings a massive name and a lot of money to the table.

Mayweather sees nothing wrong with choosing someone like McGregor for a 50th fight.  

“It will be against a fighter and that’s what important. Giving the fans excitement. I want to go out there and compete again. No matter if it’s a boxing fighter, or an MMA fighter. A fighter is a fighter when it’s all said and done," Mayweather told BT Sport’s Rio Ferdinand.

The biggest hurdle in making that fight is McGregor's exclusive contract with the UFC. McGregor believes that he can use the 'Muhammad Ali Act' to get around the terms of his UFC agreement - but UFC President Dana White believes otherwise and feels very confident that he can legally prevent McGregor from entering the ring against Mayweather.

According to Mayweather, the motivation to fight McGregor is to give the public a mega-event.

Mayweather's 2015 showdown with Manny Pacquiao was a mega-event that financially blew away every event in combat sports history. It generated well over half a billion in revenue and a record shattering 4.6 million pay-per-view buys.

“To be in the biggest fight in boxing history. My mentality going into the fight was take advantage of the moment. Take advantage of the situation because when the history books are written you don’t want to say you made any mistakes. I went out there I was just smart and sharp and it doesn’t matter if no one was pleased. That particular night the most important thing was having my hand raised and being smart," Mayweather said.

"I've given everybody a lot of blockbuster fights and every fight is not going to be the same but for me I’m going to always go out there and give 100 percent because it’s about giving 100 percent. 100 percent doesn’t always mean you’re going to knock the guy out. My 100 percent is this – always giving people the best no matter what the situation is."

" If you’re in a boxing gym giving the best, if nobody is around give the best. It’s always about giving the best. That’s what I’m gonna do – I’m going to continue to give everyone around the world the best performance I can possibly give you.”