'I'll be waiting to punish you': Floyd Mayweather makes bid to taunt Conor McGregor out of 'retirement'

Both Floyd Mayweather and Conor McGregor are well versed in combat sport retirements having done so on several occasions in the past but the undefeated boxer says he will end his own exile to welcome the Irishman back to the ring.

McGregor announced for the third time in four years that he intended to step away from mixed martial arts over the weekend, claiming that the sport wasn't giving him a "buzz" anymore.

But Mayweather, who perhaps knowns the relative transience of what constitutes retirement in the combat world, has said that he would be more than willing to step in the ring with McGregor once again in what would be a sequel to their hugely-lucrative August 2017 boxing match.

That fight, Mayweather said, was to be his last but he has already been tempted out of the sidelines for an exhibition bout with Japanese kickboxer Tenshin Nasukawa and has repeatedly stoked the flames of making another comeback, with names like McGregor and fellow UFC fighter Khabib Nurmagomedov reported to be high on his list of potential opponents.

McGregor's current stance reflects a malaise amongst several members of the upper echelon of the UFC roster who have grown weary of what they see as a perceived lack of fair compensation, particularly when compared to other major sports like boxing, NFL, NBA and others.

The biggest payday available to McGregor remains boxing, the sport in which the Irishman is still a relative novice and if he wants to achieve another momentous check, Mayweather says that he is the man to provide it.

The first meeting between Mayweather and McGregor was ultimately easily won by the American but McGregor did impress many observers who had counted him out prior to the bout but performing admirably in the early rounds of his boxing debut. 

Several of the Irishman's shots found their home early in the fight before Mayweather forced the issue in the latter rounds, winning by the 10th round TKO. 

The fight proved to be massively successful in uniting both the boxing and mixed martial arts audiences, with some estimates placing the event at more than 5 million pay-per-view buys. 

McGregor has also stated that he would be willing to entertain a rematch. Following praise from Mike Tyson last month, he wrote online that he was "excited for part 2" of his rivalry with Mayweather and has stated on several occasions that he is confident that he would be able to reverse the result of the first fight.