Keith Thurman Talks Potential Floyd Mayweather vs. Conor McGregor Boxing Fight

Floyd Mayweather and Conor McGregor have "no business being in the ring together," according to WBA Welterweight champion Keith Thurman. 

Rumours of a potential cross-discipline fight between MMA star McGregor and retired boxing legend Mayweather have been increasing for some time, with the undefeated Money recently tweeting a mock poster for such an event:

The pair are both famously zealous with their self-promotion and, for Thurman, all the hype is merely another exercise in money-making for the duo, although he admitted it would be interesting to see an MMA fighter cross over into the boxing world, per BoxingScene.com's Ryan Burton:

"

Floyd Mayweather is always trying to sell a product—which is Mayweather versus anybody. He is really trying to excite the crossover which really is very interesting because we have never had an MMA crossover. We've had boxers crossover into MMA but you have never had an MMA figure crossover into boxing and the reason probably is because they limit their abilities to win. They are two different sports.

If you are used to using your hands and your feet, stand up and ground game and now all of a sudden you can only use your stand up and hands it is a completely different kind of fight. Twelve three-minute rounds. It is a lot longer duration than five five-minute rounds. Statistically and mathematically Conor McGregor and Mayweather have no business being in the ring against one another besides the fact that they may want to amp it up and hype it up and try to create a business out of it which is what I think they are really trying to do.

"

McGregor, 27, fell to the first defeat of his UFC career back in March as he was submitted by Nate Diaz having made the big step up from featherweight to welterweight.

The Irishman remains the UFC Featherweight champion but has recently been confirmed for a welterweight rematch against Diaz at UFC 202 on August 20, per Brett Okamoto on ESPN.co.uk

McGregor, though, has also added to the hype of a potential fight with Mayweather by posting his own image on social media:

It is clearly not an imminent event with McGregor scheduled to fight in August, but then Mayweather, 39, has been out of action since September 2015 having retired with a perfect 49-0 record after beating Andre Berto.

Back in January the American insisted he would not return to the ring, per talkSPORT's Joe Moore: "I make seven figures a month…I won’t come out of retirement for anyone."

However, per Burton, over the past month Mayweather has "hinted" he could be tempted to go after a 50th straight victory, and thus eclipse Rocky Marciano's record.

In normal circumstances, American Thurman, 27, would be an obvious choice as an opponent for the returning Mayweather after bemoaning his missed opportunities to face the pound-for-pound king in the past and accusing him of not taking on "real challenges," per the Ring's Joseph Santoliquito.

Brian Blanco/Getty Images

However, given the latest rumour-mongering by the pair, Mayweather and McGregor could be set for an unlikely showdown.

And, while they may have "no business" fighting each other, it would undoubtedly be an astronomical event.