Ali Abdelaziz, manager for UFC lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov, says that Floyd Mayweather Jr. continues to seek out a boxing match with the Russian superstar because he is 'running out of money'.
Mayweather hasn't competed in a sanctioned boxing match since his 10th round stoppage of Conor McGregor two years ago and has long been rumored to be open to another "boxing vs MMA" bout, this time with Nurmagomedov.
Also on rt.com 'The 1st time I've seen Floyd dropped!' Mayweather knocked down in charity basketball game (VIDEO)The boxer was rumored to have earned north of $100 million (€89.1 million) for his work in the ring on that balmy night in Las Vegas a couple of summers ago and reports suggest that another payday of that magnitude tempt him out of (another) retirement.
Nurmagomedov's controversial manager Ali Abdelaziz told celebrity gossip outlet TMZ that the boxing legend is desperate to face his man.
"Floyd Mayweather, to this day, keeps begging to fight Khabib, begging!" he said.
"Floyd’s running out of money. I'm telling you, people (are) reaching out to me every week about Floyd to fight Khabib but at the end of the day, we're not interested, for now."
Khabib's fight with McGregor last year was - by far - the highest-earning bout of his career and since that contest the Russian has openly flirted with the idea of "superfights" with the likes of Mayweather and former UFC champion Georges St-Pierre.
However, the suspension levied against him for his part in the UFC 229 post-fight brawl with McGregor's team meant that he was ineligible to compete until this September's upcoming title defense against Dustin Poirier in Abu Dhabi.
Also on rt.com Khabib names ‘big legacy’ fights he needs for pound-for-pound greatnessMayweather, meanwhile, has shown that he is willing to return to action, providing the conditions are right. He did exactly that on New Year's Eve last year for his one-round shellacking of mismatched Japanese kickboxer Tenshin Nasukawa in Saitama, for which he earned $7 million (€6.2 million).
For Abdelaziz, any talk of Mayweather can wait until after September 7.
"At the end of the day we’re fighting Dustin Poirier," he stated. "He’s a true No1 contender."