It appears a boxing showdown between Conor McGregor and Floyd Mayweather has reached an impasse.
The sports world is still waiting to see if Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) lightweight title holder McGregor and boxing icon Mayweather will trade leather this year. “Notorious” has said that it’s the only fight on his mind at the moment, and “Money” claims he’ll only come out of retirement to fight McGregor.
Despite the bout seeming to pick up steam with every passing day, Showtime Sports Executive Vice President Stephen Espinoza hasn’t seen much movement. He told Chris Mannix that there is a roadblock and the fight very well could be a now or never situation (via MMAFighting.com):
“The biggest battle in Mayweather-Pacquiao was both guys really thinking that the other wanted to do it. That part has happened [with McGregor and Mayweather], so I think the real question – and it’s sort of a black box right now – is where’s the UFC really, on this? Do they, in fact, want it? Dana – speaking on behalf of, I assume, the UFC – is making noises that he’s more open to it but talk is talk. I haven’t seen a lot of progress either internally in the deal between the two of them or externally, the deal between that side and this side. It’s largely at a standstill. There hasn’t been a ton of progress and I think if they don’t move relatively quickly, people may move on. People may tire of it. But it really is something that needs to happen this year or it probably won’t happen. Floyd’s on 18 months, two solid years come September since he’s fought. He’s still in great shape, but at a certain point, he’s not gonna do it after a while.”
