Floyd Mayweather Jr., left, and Conor McGregor. (Agencia)
A mega cross-sport fight between Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Conor McGregor will take place Aug. 26 in Las Vegas.
Mayweather made the once improbable boxing match with the UFC superstar come to fruition Wednesday when he announced the details on his social media accounts.
UFC president Dana White said on ESPN’s “SportsCenter” that Mayweather and McGregor will fight at 154 pounds at T-Mobile Arena.
William Hill sports books made Mayweather a minus-1,100 favorite on Wednesday, with McGregor at plus-700.
On Wednesday, Mayweather Promotions was granted permission to promote an event at the MGM Grand Garden on that date during the Nevada Athletic Commission’s monthly meeting at Grant Sawyer Building. The item was pulled from the agenda earlier this week, but Mayweather’s promotional company added the request again around 11:20 p.m. Tuesday.
T-Mobile Arena is currently occupied on Aug. 26 by The BIG3 title game, a professional 3-on-3 basketball league founded by Ice Cube.
The NAC agenda item listed a Mayweather Promotions event for Aug. 26 at the MGM Grand Garden with undefeated Mayweather protege Gervonta Davis expected to face a yet-to-be-named opponent.
Mayweather said after Davis’ last bout in May that he wanted Davis and Badou Jack on the undercard of his comeback fight.
McGregor, the UFC lightweight champion, came to terms with the UFC last month on his part of the deal to take a fight outside his promotional contract with the organization. UFC officials then began negotiations with Mayweather’s side.
Neither Mayweather nor McGregor is currently licensed as a boxer in Nevada, and NAC executive director Bob Bennett said nothing official has been submitted to the commission from either side regarding the proposed megafight.
“I have not received a completed application for a boxing license from Conor McGregor or Floyd Mayweather or any documentation from any promoter whether it be the UFC, Mayweather Promotions regarding an event between Conor McGregor and Floyd Mayweather,” Bennett told the Review-Journal on Wednesday morning. “As a regulator, once we receive those documents, we move forward.”
The licensing process can be done within a week for most fighters, provided their medicals are in order.
McGregor and Mayweather have been teasing a bout through various public appearances and on social media for more than a year.
The Irishman took a shot at the 40-year-old Mayweather by posting on Twitter a side-by-side photo of him and Floyd Mayweather Sr. with the caption “The fight is on.”
THE FIGHT IS ON. pic.twitter.com/KhW0u3jRft — Conor McGregor (@TheNotoriousMMA) June 14, 2017
McGregor, 28, who has never competed in a professional boxing match, last fought at UFC 205 at Madison Square Garden in New York when he won the lightweight title with a second-round knockout of Eddie Alvarez in November.
Mayweather retired from boxing with a 49-0 record after winning a unanimous decision over Andre Berto in September 2015. The Las Vegan has said a bout with McGregor is the only fight that could lure him back into the ring.
Both sides have yet to announce if the undercard will be strictly boxing events or a mix with MMA bouts. Ticket information was not announced.
This is a developing story. Check back soon for updates.
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Contact Gilbert Manzano at gmanzano@reviewjournal.com. Follow @gmanzano24 on Twitter. Contact Adam Hill at ahill@reviewjournal.com or 702-277-8028. Follow @adamhilllvrj on Twitter.