A report on Wednesday morning on The Sun's website suggests Conor McGregor may get his lucrative second boxing crossover fight after all — but it wouldn't be against Manny Pacquiao, and it would be staged on a cruise ship.
McGregor's surprising loss on Saturday to Dustin Poirier in the main event of UFC 257 appeared to scupper his chances of securing a big-money spectacle for his next outing, with boxing eight-weight former world champion Pacquiao or rematching UFC lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov top of the list.
However the British newspaper now claim there are talks for McGregor to face the man who beat him the first time he gave professional boxing a try back in 2017, Floyd Mayweather Jr.
It did seem strange that the retired 50-0 American took to social media after Poirier beat McGregor in two rounds on Fight Island and berated the Irishman.
“Just know, that bum will never be me or be on my level," Floyd ranted.
"I’m just built different, my mindset is on another planet, my skills are second to none, I’m a natural born winner and yes I talk a lot of trash, but every time I back it up.
“Connor cannot even win in his own sport, but talking about coming back to boxing to fight Pacquiao. Nobody wants to see that, it's like my leftovers eating leftovers."
Most diehard fight fans are tiring of the constant talk of crossover mismatches and one-sided spectacles, but they continue to draw big money.
Mayweather was set to face YouTuber Logan Paul in an exhibition in February, but the date will now be changed. Whether this development has any link to the Mayweather-McGregor 2 reports remains to be seen.
The first time the two did battle in Las Vegas, they almost sold out the 16,000 seater T-Mobile Arena, generating around £50million in VIP ticket sales with astronomical price points.
The cruise ship destination seems to be an idea in response to the current COVID-19 pandemic, as it would be easier to not only enable a virus-free "bubble" but would also appeal to the big-spending attendees they would expect to tempt on board.
[Where does McGregor go from here, after shock loss to Poirier?]