Floyd Mayweather Jr confirmed last weekend that he is "officially out of retirement" so he can concentrate on a mega-fight with boxing rules against UFC superstar Conor McGregor, but the match-up does not impress former two-weight world champion Ricky Hatton, who told Business Insider: "If that fight was in my back garden I'd shut the curtains."
Mayweather beat Hatton in a well-publicised welterweight fight in 2007. In the subsequent eight years, the American went on to secure a Hall-of-Fame legacy by defeating Juan Manuel Marquez, Shane Mosley, Miguel Cotto, Saul Alvarez, and Manny Pacquiao before retiring in 2015.
Since hanging up his gloves, a new fight superstar has emerged in his place, albeit one from the cage rather than the ring.In the last 18 months, Conor McGregor has become the first mixed martial artist to hold UFC world championship titles in two weight divisions at the same time — featherweight and lightweight.
McGregor's 13-second knockout victory over UFC legend Jose Aldo in 2015, his two-fight rivalry with Nate Diaz, and his demolition of Eddie Alvarez helped the Irishman's star appeal transcend mixed martial arts and infiltrate boxing.
McGregor challenged Mayweather to a boxing-rules contest in December, 2016. Mayweather has accepted. The only thing holding the deal back at this stage is paperwork.
"I can't believe it's going to happen, no disrespect to Conor intended," Hatton told Business Insider.
However, if the fight does go ahead, he said: "[McGregor is] very good for a UFC fighter, [so] it might go a few rounds due to Conor's toughness but I think Floyd would stop him."
Flocombat report that the fight could take place at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, as the 20,000 capacity arena has been reserved specifically for a Mayweather versus McGregor event on Saturday, June 10.
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