Floyd Mayweather vs Conor McGregor could be BIGGER than Manny Pacquiao fight, claim men behind mega-bout
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Floyd Mayweather 's return to the ring against Conor McGregor could break the box-office record set by his previous clash with Manny Pacquiao .
That is the verdict of the men who have put together the £500m mega fight.
Mayweather and McGregor will touch gloves at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas on August 26 in a clash that will earn each man at least $100m (£78.5m).
In May 2015, 4.4m people paid almost $100 to watch Mayweather outpoint Pacquiao, while the fight set a new gate record of $72m.
But those records could be shattered this summer.
UFC president Dana White said: "I think this fight is bigger globally than Mayweather-Pacquiao was."
(Photo: Jamie Squire)
And Mayweather Promotions CEO Leonard Ellerbe added: "There's not one place that I go to, that Floyd goes to, that anybody affiliated or associated with Floyd Mayweather [goes to], that [we don’t get] asked the question, ‘Floyd, are you gonna fight Conor McGregor?’
"This is a very, very hot fight and this is a fight that the fans want. It’s gonna be a tremendous event. The fans wanted this fight.”
(Photo: Zuffa LLC)
And Stephen Espinoza, executive vice president of Showtime, said: "We've actually tapped into the audience that really doesn’t follow either sport.
"This is such an unprecedented event, such a spectacle, that all of a sudden people who have never really been interested in MMA or boxing are interested in this event due to the nature of the competition and the nature of these two personalities.
"That’s an untapped part of the market that not even Mayweather-Pacquiao touched.”