Floyd Mayweather earned a nine-figure payday for his final professional boxing bout with Conor McGregor – but he could have pocketed more.
In 2017, five-weight boxing world champion Mayweather and dual-weight UFC king McGregor collided at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas in a lucrative crossover clash aptly billed ‘The Money Fight’.
The event generated more than $600m in revenue and sold 4.3m pay-per-views – just shy of the all-time record set by Mayweather’s long-awaited bout with Manny Pacquiao in 2015 (4.6m).
Mayweather received a lion’s share of the purse, banking an eye-watering $280m while McGregor scooped $130m for his efforts.
It marked McGregor’s first, and to date, his only pro boxing bout.
And so, despite being 11 years younger than his 40-year-old foe and considerably heavier, he was no match for the vastly more experienced Mayweather who blasted him out with a 15-punch combination in round 10.
Mayweather hadn’t knocked out an opponent since 2011 when he flattened Victor Ortiz with a sucker punch but he was so confident he would end that drought against McGregor that he dashed over to a bookies to place a bet hours before the fight.
According to ESPN, Mayweather went into a sportsbook at the M Resort in Las Vegas at 3.30pm and attempted to place a $400,000 bet on the fight ending under 9.5 rounds at -200 odds.
However, concerns over the legality of such a specific bet led to him changing his wager to a straight stoppage win – although Mayweather left the shop before he could put it down after growing tired of waiting.
“I think that we bet 100 on 9½,” Mayweather told ESPN after the fight.
“I gave my guy six figures to go bet. I have to make sure he bet because earlier today I went to the sports book to bet and they wouldn’t let me bet.”
Mayweather later revealed he gave a friend $400,000 to bet, but that his pal was only allowed to place a bet for $87,000.
There are no rules from either the Nevada State Athletic Commission or the Nevada Gaming Control that limit a fighter’s ability to bet on himself.
However, several governing bodies including the British Boxing Board of Control forbid boxers from betting on fights they are involved in due to match-fixing concerns.
Mayweather had never bet on himself prior to his bout with McGregor but is known for taking massive punts on sports.
In the space of one month between September and October 2014, Mayweather wagered $800,000 on NFL games and pulled in more than $4.7m in winnings.
He also picked up a cool $42,500 on a $10,000 ticket for Dmitry Bivol to beat Canelo Alvarez in 2022 and raked in a remarkable $827,000 during a four-day winning streak in boxing and NBA in May 2015.
