D. White (right) wants part of C. McGregor's (left) salary Photo: Josh Hedges/UFC
The main stumbling block on the path to the officialization of the superfight between Conor McGregor and Floyd Mayweather appears to be the UFC, employer of the Irishman, the organization's lightweight champion. According to Bob Arum, boxing promoter and in charge of managing the careers of names like Manny Pacquiao and Brazilian Esquiva Falcão, declared that Ultimate is stalling negotiations because it wants to keep half of McGregor's purse, which should be around seven figures. . It's worth noting that the manager is feuding with Dana White, president of the UFC.
Although he is not directly involved in the negotiations between Conor and Floyd, Bob Arum enjoys great prestige in the world of noble art, as he is president of Top Rank, one of the largest boxing promotions in the world. Therefore, he is aware of how the conversations between the UFC champion and the multi-time boxing champion are going.
“I have no control over this. I think the only impediment to that is the UFC, because the UFC doesn't treat fighters the same way that boxing promoters do – in other words, UFC fighters are paid much less than boxers. They proposed a deal to Conor in which, in their share of the purse, they take 50%. So as to! If the fight doesn't happen - not that I think it will be a great fight, because Conor facing Mayweather is not a real fight, if it's in boxing... Conor is a great guy in MMA, but he hasn't shown anything in boxing, and Mayweather He’s one of the greatest fighters, but if this fight doesn’t happen, it will be all the UFC’s fault”, commented Arum, to the North American website “Fight Hype”.
Initially, Ultimate was interested in promoting the superfight, which would be historic, as the UFC has never organized a boxing fight in the more than 23 years it has been promoting MMA fights. Dana White officially offered US$25 million to each of the athletes, an offer promptly rejected by Floyd Mayweather, who plans to earn more than US$100 million to return to the ring.
