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By: Sean Crose
After demolishing the UFCs biggest star, Conor McGregor, in an MMA superfight, UFC lightweight champ Khabib Nurmagomedov recently called out Floyd Mayweather. Mayweather, who handily bested McGregor in a ring before Khabib did in an octagon, has responded. “Oh, we fighting!” the world’s favorite retired fighter told TMZ (provided Khabib is truly interested). “I can’t say what’s going on on Khabib’s end. But, on my end, we can make it happen.” As with McGregor, Khabib would have to face Mayweather in the ring, should they actually meet. “He called me out,” said Mayweather, “so, he gotta come to my world.”
Mayweather recently said he was going to have a second fight with Manny Pacquiao. Perhaps the rematch is now on the back burner, however. Khabib would surely be an easier fight for Floyd than Pacquiao would be – at least on paper. McGregor, who decided to have his first boxing match against the greatest fighter of a generation, at least had a reputation as a solid striker. That isn’t the case with Khabib, a deadly wrestler who wrapped himself like a snake around McGregor until the Irishman tapped out earlier this month. Mayweather, however, claims he can still make nine figures off a fight with Khabib.
One person who is particularly critical of Mayweather’s recent choice of (potential) opponents is none other than former foe Canelo Alvarez. Since losing a nearly one sided decision to Mayweather in 2013, Canelo has risen to the top of the fight game. This fact was made loud and clear on Wednesday, when it was announced that the middleweight champ had signed the most lucrative contract in all of sports with DAZN streaming service. “He wants to continue hurting boxing,” TMZ shows the Mexican star saying of Mayweather, “by making fights that don’t make sense … and not giving boxing the credibility it deserves.”
Perhaps not surprisingly, Canelo wants a second shot at Mayweather. “If he wants to return,” Canelo says, “I ask him to look my way to give a great fight to the fans.” There’s no doubt a second battle with Mayweather would be extraordinarily lucrative for all parties involved. Yet the 2018 version of Canelo unquestionably poses a greater threat to the aging Mayweather than Khabib, McGregor, or perhaps even Pacquiao does. “Let’s do the second fight,” Canelo claims. “It’s very important. We have something pending there, so let’s make the second fight.”
