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Floyd Mayweather Jr. is expecting to fight Conor McGregor for the second time in 2023, per Bleacher Report. Mayweather wants it to be an exhibition match, but is open to the idea of it being a professional bout.
Mayweather and McGregor matched up for the first time in 2017. Their bout was one of the most viewed of all time as the undefeated Mayweather took on McGregor looking to prove he was more than the MMA. The fight was scheduled for 12 rounds and was held at the T-Mobile Arena. It only lasted 10 as Mayweather picked up the TKO. Whether he let McGregor stay in the fight until then is up to question, but McGregor started out hot. He clearly lost steam as the fight wore on and was barely upright by the time Maywetaher flipped the switch.
A rematch has been expected although nothing is official yet. It would financially be in the interests of the participants to make it happen though. Mayweather was guaranteed $100 million from the event with McGregor guaranteed $30 million. Due to the exorbitant PPV sales and other profits from the bout, Mayweather was reported to earn $280 million while McGregor earned $130 million.
The first match was Mayweather’s final professional boxing match and he has since retired at a perfect 50-0. Since then, Mayweather has made various exhibition appearances that haven’t counted towards his record. When he suffered the loss, McGregor was the reigning light heavyweight champion in the UFC. When he returned to the UFC, he lost his title to Khabib Nurmagomedov by fourth-round submission. McGregor has gone 1-2 since dropping the belt and most recently lost by first-round knockout to Dustin Poirier in July 2021.