Boxing pound-for-pound great Canelo Alvarez has recently expressed interest in fighting cultural sports icon and former two-division UFC champion Conor McGregor. If this fight materializes, it would be the second time the legendary Irishman invades the sport of boxing. McGregor's historic bout with boxing legend Floyd Mayweather Jr. in 2017 set the record for the second-highest pay-per-view numbers in history.
Perhaps interested in such a big-money fight, Alvarez is not shying away from slugging it out with 'The Notorious', even though the latter only has one pro boxing match to his name.
In an interview with Manouk Akopyan on YouTube, Canelo was asked if he was interested in fighting McGregor. He responded by saying:
"Yeah, why not. And then we show boxing is better...Easy, easy. Way easy money."
When asked how soon he thinks he'll knock McGregor out, Canelo said:
"[Any] time I want. One round, two rounds, three rounds, whatever I want."
Check out Canelo Alvarez's statement as posted by Championship Rounds on X:
Conor McGregor scripted history by fighting Floyd Mayweather Jr. in 2017
Back in early 2017, the then-crazy notion of an MMA champion fighting a boxer on the pound-for-pound list was considered an outrageous idea. However, serious talks of then-no. 1 pound-for-pound boxer Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Conor McGregor, who held both the UFC featherweight and lightweight belts at the time.
In June 2017, the unthinkable happened as the Mayweather-McGregor bout was made official. The build-up and press conference were legendary as both men were geniuses on the mic. Despite McGregor not having any prior pro boxing matches, his bout against the best boxer of this generation was generating global interest.
The fight took place at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas on Aug. 26, 2017, in front of a sold-out crowd. The fight went all the way up to the 10th round, with McGregor performing better than some of Mayweather's recent opponents. Still, the masterful tactician in 'Money' dismantled 'The Notorious' en route to a 10th-round TKO victory.
The fight generated an estimated $396 million, with Mayweather reportedly taking home approximately $280 million while McGregor earned somewhere in the neighborhood of $130 million.
We can see why Alvarez would be interested in a McGregor fight.