Sports shorts Mayweather, McGregor mega-fight finalized for Aug. 26

Floyd Mayweather Jr. and UFC star Conor McGregor will meet Aug. 26 in a boxing match that will feature two of the top-selling fighters in the world.

The two fighters both announced the fight Wednesday, after months of speculation about whether Mayweather would come out of retirement at the age of 40 to face a mixed martial arts fighter who has never had a pro boxing match.

Oddsmakers immediately made Mayweather a big 11-1 favorite in a fight that will take place in a boxing ring and be governed by boxing rules.

“It’s official,” Mayweather said on Instagram next to a video poster of both fighters.

“THE FIGHT IS ON,” McGregor tweeted several minutes earlier, posting a picture of himself next to one of Mayweather’s father, Floyd Sr.

Mayweather, who retired in September 2015 after winning all 49 of his pro fights, will face the Irish UFC superstar at the MGM Grand arena. He had tweeted a picture of himself sparring in recent days to show he was already getting ready for the bout.

“This is really an unprecedented event,” said Stephen Espinoza, who heads Showtime Sports, which will handle the pay-per-view. “Really we haven’t seen anything in modern history that resembles it, it’s impossible to predict how many sales this will do.”

Espinoza said the fight came together quickly after McGregor and the UFC reached agreement last month on their end of the deal and Mayweather’s team pushed for the fight in recent days.

“All parties were motivated and reasonable and thrilled we could get everything done,” he said. “The sky’s the limit on this.”

Mayweather will fight at the relatively advanced age of 41 in a bout that McGregor has been pushing for months. It finally came together and Nevada boxing officials on Wednesday approved the date for a Mayweather Promotions bout.

The announcement of the crossover boxing match between UFC champ Conor McGregor and Floyd Mayweather Jr. surely caused a buzz for sports fans on June 14.

It also fired up the UFC heavyweight champion, who wants to join McGregor and cross over into boxing the same night.

Eastlake North graduate Stipe Miocic went to Twitter shortly after the McGregor-Mayweather bout was announced for Aug. 26, asking for a chance to take on boxing’s heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua.

“Hey @anthonyfjoshua let’s have a proper tussle and still have time for tea and crumpets before the main event! #MayweatherMcGregor,” Miocic tweeted on June 14.

The tweet might have seemed innocent enough, but Miocic spoke about wanting to fight Joshua in May, telling The MMA Hour, “Let’s do it.”

“I think I’d surprise a lot of people,” said Miocic. “I think it’d be an amazing fight.

“He’s a tough guy. He’s the best in the world, but I’m a pretty tough guy, too.”

Miocic is 34, and Joshua is 27. Both are top of their respective sport’s division by showing great punching power.

Miocic has knocked out four straight opponents in Round 1, including his last bout vs. Junior dos Santos in May.

Joshua is 19-0 with 19 knockouts. He owns the WBA, IBO and IBF heavyweight boxing belts after knocking out Wladimir Klitschko in April.

Miocic’s coach Marcus Marinelli recently told The News-Herald he and his fighter are all in for a bout vs. Joshua.

“I like the idea, and I don’t think it would be a bad thing,” said Marinelli. “It would be a huge payday for Stipe, and I think he would be very competitive.”

— Mark Podolski