Floyd Mayweather Jr. makes counter offer to Conor McGregor for boxing bout

Floyd Mayweather Jr. sits ring side with his daughter Iyanna for the main event fight between Manny Pacquiao and Jessie Vargas at the Thomas & Mack Center on Saturday, Nov. 5, 2016, in Las Vegas. (Erik Verduzco/Las Vegas Review-Journal) Follow @Erik_Verduzco

The Floyd Mayweather Jr. versus Conor McGregor fantasy matchup is back in the news.

Mayweather responded to McGregor’s demand for a $100 million purse to meet in a boxing match with a much lower counter offer. The retired boxing superstar said he’s willing to offer the UFC superstar $15 million and a percentage of the pay-per-view revenue, but only if Mayweather received a guaranteed $100 million payout.

“We tried to make the Conor McGregor fight,” Mayweather said as a guest on ESPN’s “First Take” on Wednesday. “They know what my number is. My number was a guaranteed $100 million. We’re the A-side. I’m not sure how much money Conor McGregor has made. … He hasn’t even made $10 million in a MMA bout.

“But we are willing to give him $15 million, and then we can talk about splitting the back end of the percentage of the pay per view.”

Mayweather said the McGregor bout makes more business sense than a rematch with Manny Pacquiao. The Las Vegas resident took in more than $300 million after defeating Pacquiao in 2015 at the MGM Grand.

“The only thing I’m probably interested in is the Conor McGregor fight,” said Mayweather, who hasn’t been in the ring since defeating Andre Berto 16 months ago. “I’m a businessman, and it makes more business sense.”

Rumors swirled of a potential Mayweather-Pacquiao rematch when the retired star sat ringside for Pacquiao’s victory against Jessie Vargas at the Thomas &Mack Center in November. Pacquiao has moved on to a bout with little known Jeff Horn on April 22, possibly in Australia.

Mayweather’s steep asking price of nine figures for a comeback bout seems more probable against McGregor, who is setting UFC revenue records every time he steps into the octagon. Pacquiao has lost a bit of his luster after a dismal performance against Mayweather and has produced low PPV numbers since the mega bout.

McGregor added fuel to the once far-fetched matchup in November when he obtained a boxing licence from California. McGregor, the UFC’s lightweight champion, isn’t expected to return until at least May while taking a break for the birth of his first child.

Leonard Ellerbe, the CEO of Mayweather Promotions, confirmed Mayweather’s interest in the McGregor bout. But Ellerbe doesn’t expect the UFC to sign off on letting McGregor face the 49-0 Mayweather.

“We did look into a Conor McGregor fight,” Ellerbe said. “I thought maybe there’s something there. I started making some calls, and the word got back to me very quickly that never in a billion years would (the UFC) entertain the idea of getting their cash cow annihilated.

“It’s one thing to talk about (Mayweather), but the reality is (the UFC) wouldn’t put them in the same boxing ring, and they wouldn’t even put them together in the same state because you know what the outcome would be. What is he going to do? This guy is the best. You haven’t even fought one amateur fight.”

McGregor responded to Mayweather with a touchy taunt on Twitter.

“Call me C.J. Watson,” McGregor posted with a picture of himself as an emoji standing over Mayweather while holding three of the four major boxing belts.

The Irishman was referring to Mayweather’s feud with C.J. Watson, a guard for the Orlando Magic who graduated from Bishop Gorman High. Watson allegedly was in a romantic relationship with Josie Harris, the mother of three kids with Mayweather. Mayweather was sentenced to 90 days in jail for a domestic violence dispute with Harris in 2011.

Contact Gilbert Manzano at gmanzano@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0492. Follow @gmanzano24 on Twitter.