Image edit courtesy of The Sun

The rumor du jour is that Floyd Mayweather Jr. is coming out of retirement and has chosen an unlikely foe with whom to face off in a fight that would presumably lift his record to 50-0: a mixed martial artist.

The story making the rounds, having originated in the British tabloid The Sun, has the 39-year-old pugilistic and marketing specialist fighting UFC persona Conor McGregor, who, for those unaware, is not a professional boxer. Professional fighter he is – and compelling person he is – with a wicked gift for trash talk and self-promotion.

I messaged reps for Showtime, with whom Mayweather is aligned, and also UFC, to get a confirm or deny.

Mayweather last fought in Sept. 2015 and then bid the sport adios. On Saturday night, during a Showtime card, he told the world he’s been talking about coming back and mentioned some names. McGregor wasn’t one of them.

Sagacious cynics will note that, tomorrow, a mega-fight unfolds in Las Vegas, between the sports’ top eyeball draw, sans Mayweather, RING middleweight champion Canelo Alvarez and Amir Khan, who has sparred verbally over the years with Floyd. Could this Mayweather-McGregor chatter merely be just that, chatter, employed to build buzz but nothing beyond that? One might surmise as much, being that there is no way on God’s green Earth that the UFC’er could compete with Mayweather in a boxing ring, unless he were allowed to go by MMA rules.

The Sun sourcing is ultra-vague and specifics are scarce. No date or site is offered. Until we get stronger sourcing, we’d be inclined to treat this simply as rumor mill fodder meant to generate buzz and nothing more.

No truth to the rumor (as of yet) that Michael Woods is to take part in a 30-writer “Bunkhouse Stampede”-style battle royale. Although the stipulation that the 29 guys who don’t win have to cover bouts from auxiliary seating is pretty freaking terrifying…

SUBSCRIBE

You can subscribe to the print and digital editions of THE RING Magazine by clicking the banner or here. You can also order the current issue, which is on newsstands, or back issues from our subscribe page. On the cover this month: Canelo Alvarez readies himself for an intriguing clash with Britain’s Amir Khan on May 7.