Conor McGregor vs. Floyd Mayweather Jr.: 5 Things You Need to Know About the Boxing Superfight

After months of posturing, trash talk, and plenty of Instagram posts, it’s set: Conor McGregor and Floyd Mayweather Jr. will be facing off in a boxing match.

Although this won’t be a title fight, there’s plenty on the line for both stars—and each of their respective sports. Mayweather is 49-0, and looking to finish his career with a perfect 50-0 record. McGregor, the top athlete in his sport, will be taking a break in his prime from UFC to enter the boxing ring against Mayweather.

Not since Muhammad Ali took on Japanese professional wrestler Antonio Inoki in 1976 in Tokyo has there been such a spectacle around a matchup in the ring. McGregor, who has never had a professional boxing match in his career, will now face off against one of the most accomplished boxers in history. And no matter the outcome, the fight and the hype around it should make for one of the best sporting events of the decade.

Here’s everything you need to know about the highly anticipated fight.

When: The scheduled 12-round fight will be on Aug. 26, 2017.
Where: T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
How to watch: The fight will be broadcast on Showtime pay-per-view.
How much it’ll cost: Mayweather’s fight with Manny Pacquiao cost $100 on pay-per-view, so expect the McGregor fight to be in the same range.

Mayweather is the biggest draw in boxing, and, early in the negotiations for the fight, there was a bit of an argument about what the split would be between the two fighters. While no numbers are official yet, since the fight hasn’t happened and the gate/PPV/merchandising revenue (obviously) aren’t set yet, one thing is clear: Both fighters are going to make buckets of money.

Mayweather made a guaranteed $100 million from his fight against Manny Pacquiao, and previously said he took home $300 million overall after the pay-per-view numbers were factored in. This time around, Mayweather could make about the same amount. Dana White said on FS1 in April 2017: “If the fight sells as well as I think it can, Floyd makes a little north of $100 [million] and Conor makes $75 [million].”

Darren Rovell at ESPN also looked at the numbers and speculated that, between PPV sales, gate tickets, betting, sponsorship sales, and merchandise sales, the fight could generate a total that reaches $606 million. While that would be less than the $623 million generated for the Mayweather-Pacquiao fight, it still would be a pretty good haul for everyone involved.

Now that the fight is set, the betting truly can begin. As an accomplished boxer, it’s no surprise that Mayweather is the favorite—a heavy one. As of June 15, Mayweather comes in at a -$1,100 favorite at the Westgate Las Vegas SuperBook, with McGregor bets paying back +$700, according to ESPN. Bovada has Mayweather as a -$2,250 favorite, while McGregor is at +$950.

Few athletes are as focused on branding and self-promotion as Mayweather, and his team must be salivating at the chance to trademark “50-0” as part of its efforts. Mayweather’s undefeated record is one of the biggest parts of his brand identity, and while a loss here wouldn’t stop him from making money, 50-0 surely has a much better ring to it than 49-1. As great as the number 50 is, Mayweather treasures his undefeated record and will work hard to keep it. We’ll see what McGregor has to say about that.

Dana White announced that the fight will be set at 154lbs, and that the fighters will wear 10oz gloves. Mayweather has had many fights at that weight, so he’ll be comfortable, but the announcement was also a positive for McGregor. “Notorious” has had UFC fights at 155lbs, so he has experience there, but it also means he won’t have to cut a crazy amount of weight for the fight. Had the fight been set at 147lbs, the fighters would have had to fight with 8oz gloves—that extra padding could be the difference in having knockout power or not. Either way, this is going to be one hell of an entertaining matchup.