Floyd Mayweather Jnr says he almost came out of retirement to fight UFC featherweight champion Conor McGregor.

Mayweather, 39, retired from boxing in September 2015 but was recently considering a mixed martial arts bout with McGregor.

“I tried to make the fight happen between me and Conor McGregor,” he said.

“I feel honoured to be the biggest name in MMA and in boxing, and I don’t even compete no more.”

Last month McGregor said he was interested in fighting the former five-division world champion as long as Mayweather could come up with the appropriate funds for the crossover fight.

“Right now, I have Floyd running around the Showtime offices gathering my money. That’s what he’s doing,” the Irishman said on August 15.

“He’s begging executives to come up with the $100m cash he needs to fight me. As soon as he gets my money, we can fight.”

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