Boxing legend Floyd Mayweather has offered Conor McGregor a rematch in a bid to tempt him out of retirement.
McGregor stunned fans on Sunday by announcing that he was hanging up his gloves for the third time in four years.
The Dubliner hasn't been able to secure a meaningful fight for this summer as the coronavirus crisis wreaks havoc with sport, Mirror UK reports.
And instead of sitting on the sidelines until later this year, he has decided to call it a day.
But Mayweather, who stopped McGregor in the 10th round of their super-fight in 2017, has offered him a route back if he's willing.
"If I’m not mistaken, didn’t you tell Mike Tyson you could beat me if we fought a second time? Now you’re quitting!" he wrote on Instagram.
"I thought you wanted to beat the best? Well, if you decide to come back, I will be waiting to punish you again."
Mayweather has long insisted he himself has retired from fighting and has recently started his coaching career.
But given the ease with which he dispatched McGregor, it appears he would be willing to cash in with a second fight.
The former two-weight UFC champion admitted he has fallen out of love with the sport.
"The game just does not excite me, and that's that," he told ESPN.
"All this waiting around. There's nothing happening. I'm going through opponent options, and there's nothing really there at the minute. There's nothing that's exciting me.
"I had my goals, my plans, the season. I had everything laid out. Obviously the world has gone bleeding bonkers at the minute.
"There's f*** all happening at the minute. They want to throw me up and down weights and offer me stupid fights. I don't really give a f***, I'm over it."
But there are few who believe McGregor won't return in the future, and even his coach John Kavanagh seems unconviced.
He tweeted: "At age 31 Jordan abruptly retired from basketball before the 1993–94 NBA season, he returned to the Bulls in March 1995 and led them to three additional championships in 1996, 1997, and 1998, as well as a then-record 72 regular-season wins in the 1995–96 NBA season."
