Following his “High Stakes” bout against Haitian-American boxer Andre Berto on September 12, 2015, Floyd Mayweather Jr. announced his retirement from professional boxing. He decided to hang up his gloves for good and end his illustrious career in the sport.
His record stood at forty-nine wins against nil losses. However, an urge to make it a perfect fifty brought him back to the ring in 2017. His opponent was UFC Lightweight champion, Conor McGregor. Dubbed “The Money Fight,” or “The Biggest Fight in Combat Sports History,” occurred on April 26, 2017, at Nevada’s T Mobile Arena. Though the mixed martial artist from Ireland started well, Mayweather Jr.’s superiority soon became apparent. The match ended with a tenth-round technical knockout for McGregor.
In terms of business, the match proved a revelation. Initially, $100 and $30 million were guaranteed for Mayweather Jr. and McGregor, respectively. However, when all was said and done, the American boxer reportedly netted $300 million, and the Irish mixed martial artist made $30 million. Likewise, the match witnessed the second-highest pay-per-view (PPV) sales at 4.3 million. T Mobile arena’s revenue generated by ticket sales stood at around $55 million. Per rough estimates, it is reported that the overall revenue generated exceeded $600 million.
Conor McGregor vs. Floyd Mayweather Rematch
Given its success, clamors for a rematch seemed logical. But it never happened, or at least yet to take place. However, a new claim explains why the much-anticipated rematch never occurred.
Chael Sonnen had built a reputation as a formidable grappler as a former UFC Light Heavyweight and Middleweight fighter. However, he tended to let his mouth off optimally when not using his wrestling skills. Readers might as well remember his comments last year. He maintained that during the 2017 match, it was McGregor who got the better of Mayweather.
In a video uploaded by @ComedyShorts that has Sonnen in a discussion with stand-up comedian and podcast host Andrew Shulz, the former UFC fighter said, “I think that they did a really good night. I’m just sharing with you, the promoters that put that on had an opportunity to rematch it; they had both the fires, which generally is the hardest thing that you’ve got right…“
Then he gave the example of how a Jon Jones versus Francis Ngannou fight never materialized since neither party seemed inclined. Whereas in McGregor – Mayweather’s case, it was otherwise. And given how the match came about, a second edition would have done better.
The match wasn’t what it was supposed to be
When the discussion started, Chael Sonnen said that despite the hype it generated, “The Money Fight” failed miserably in sales. He added that no one in authority ever corroborated the statements regarding the PPVs, “…there is nobody that has ever backed those numbers, so nobody has ever no executive has ever come out and said these numbers are true...”
“Sequels have always, or at least traditionally, done better than the original, and they still wouldn’t sign off and rematch those guys those guys did not do uh, the business that they tell you they did, and they made a bunch of money they made a bunch of money but to your point, Andrew the guarantees were too high they made a mistake, and they weren’t willing to make it to work,” said Sonnen.
The authenticity of Sonnen’s comments remains unverifiable. However, it must be noted that last year, during the Jim Rome Show, UFC President Dana White clearly stated, “Not me. I’m not talking about that,” when asked about the McGregor – Mayweather Jr. rematch,
What is your take on Sonnen’s comments? Do share your view and opinions with us in the comments below.
