The much-discussed fight has been rumored to be on the table for several months, and McGregor has even addressed the rumors and demanded a price tag for the fight.
However, according to Leonard Ellerbe, CEO of Mayweather Promotions, the fight will never happen because McGregor will never be allowed to fight Mayweather.
Ellebre told ESPN’s Dan Rafael that UFC wouldn’t let one of their top stars take on an undefeated boxer.
“It’s all a game. It’s all a calculated effort to gain more fans. He got a boxing license. Congratulations to him. Conor McGregor can say anything he wants to but he has a boss and his name is [UFC president] Dana White. He is under contract to the UFC and if he wanted to fight Floyd Mayweather in a boxing match he can’t because his bosses wouldn’t allow that to happen. The brass [from WME-IMG] who recently purchased the UFC [for $4 billion earlier this year] are very smart people and they would never — and put this in bold caps — let him step into a boxing ring with Floyd Mayweather because everyone knows what the outcome would be. He would get his ass beat from pillar to post.”
This is one of several big hold-ups in a potential Mayweather-McGregor bout. Mayweather is one of the greatest boxers of all-time. McGregor is not a boxer. As Rafael notes, McGregor would stand no chance against a pure boxer in the same way that Mayweather wouldn’t stand a chance in a UFC-style fight against McGregor.
Boxing analyst and trainer Teddy Atlas addressed the rumors in May and similarly shot down McGregor’s chances, saying, “He would need about five years — and I’m being very generous and conservative — of boxing training and experience to even entertain the thought of being competitive with any A-plus-level boxer.”
Furthermore, according to Rafael, obtaining a boxing license doesn’t need much — it costs $60 and requires an applicant to fill out four pages of paper work and pass a medical exam.
While the prospects of two of the most exciting fighters in the world facing off remains titillating, it seems this fight may never actually happen.
This article was originally published on Business Insider. Copyright 2016.
