Mayweather/McGregor was a historic battle.
On Saturday night one of the biggest fights in combat sports history happened from the fight capital of the world Las Vegas Nevada. Floyd “Money” Mayweather (50-0) entered the boxing ring for what he said was his last time against an unconventional foe “The Notorious” Conor McGregor (21-3 UFC Champion). The fight that had some of the biggest hype leading into it followed a slew of boxing prelims. It saw multiple members of Floyds Money Team punch their way to victories. There were many pundits who saw this matchup as a farce and spectacle. The idea of this being a spectacle was very accurate because that is what it was. Expected to break the all-time Pay Per View record for buys the main event came about roughly around 12 pm eastern standard time. The time was now to find out if all the hype was worth the $100 price tag on this fight.
Floyd’s entrance was strange usual coming out in all black attire including a ski mask, and his shorts were adorned with TBE for The Best Ever. Conor was dressed in white shorts and came out with an Irish flag over his shoulders with his UFC belts in tow. Once the bell rang we got into this fight that everyone and their brother had been waiting for. Conor came out early as expected a found success against Floyd. He was using his movement and awkward MMA striking style to actually land punches on the pound for pound king of boxing. The shots were crisp and finding a home. If you watched the Pay Per View, however, it sounded as If Conor was not even in the same ring and Mayweather was just shadow boxing that’s how good he was doing. The same attitude continued from the announce staff as rounds 2-5 happened. The success Conor was having was honestly surprising. He was able to use the unorthodox striking in the boxing ring to actually give Floyd a little trouble. Floyd never backed down, and why would he. He was able to deploy his usual tactics waiting out McGregor. It was clear that Floyd was not going to change a lot of what got him to this point in his legendary career. The rounds continued and it became more and more obvious that Floyd was figuring out the movement of Conor and he started landing more and more punches. Floyd was turning his back a lot during exchanges, yet referee Robert Byrd was more or less admonishing McGregor for any actions that resulted from this. Byrd is an experienced boxing referee, and obviously, this fight has a much different style when it came to fighter’s skillsets. Byrd allowed some interesting things when it came to grabbing and shots from McGregor that boxing fans would deem illegal.
The ref did his best to try and keep the fight as traditional as possible, and in round 7-9 it was clear that Floyd was ready to make his mark. Floyd turned it on and McGregor was gassed clearly. Then we got to the 10th. Floyd was throwing with a high output, while McGregor was simply trying to stay out of trouble and throwing pitter patter shots in return with almost no steam on them. Floyd then really started finding a home and McGregor was hurt by multiple shots. Floyd hit two big right hands that wobbled McGregor and stalked him with two more big lefts before the ref stepped in at honestly what could be seen as a hair too early. In today’s age of head trauma concerns, it is understandable that for the fighters safety you don’t want to see him take any more damage, but Conor comes from the world of MMA. There seems to be a little more rope given in the Octagon than in the boxing ring. Ultimately it would not have mattered Floyd had the fight won no doubt, and that is why no matter who you put in front of him he proved he really is one of the best boxers of all time.
For Floyd, this was the crowning jewel improving his record to 50-0 and walking away from boxing as easily the highest money grossing boxer of all time. He proved that yet again his patience, and defense could open up his offense and get the job done. Say what you will about Floyd and his personal issues in the past, his boxing is just on another level, which we may not see again in our lifetime. It is rare that we recognize greatness while it is happening in front of our eyes, but that is what we saw on Saturday night and boxing needs to hope there in another Floyd down the pipeline as him leaving the sport will leave a big hole in the boxing world for a while. People will point to the September 16th matchup between Canelo Alvarez (49-1) and Gennady Golovkin (37-0) as the next big fight, and it will be interesting to see what the Pay Per View numbers for that fight are considering they are both considered the two of the biggest names in boxing currently.
Conor McGregor is a winner in this loss, and it is not even a question. People like Max Kellerman who said that he would not land 1 punch will have to eat their words even with the Floyd win. You have to throw the judges’ scorecards in the garbage because that is what they were. Only one judge gave Conor more than 1 round when he clearly won the first 3 rounds. Those types of scorecards reminded people watching that were fading away from boxing, why that is the case. The announce team seemed to ignore McGregor’s successes, but for anyone watching you must give credit to Conor where credit is due. Conor will now most likely come back to the UFC, but with his financial situation now essentially being set for life it will be interesting to see how he gets paid. Conor is the UFC’s only draw at the current moment when it comes to putting up huge Pay Per View numbers. With the recent positive test of Jon “Bones” Jones (23-1 UFC Light Heavyweight Champion) for another positive test, there are no other superstars for Dana White and the UFC. This could mean an ownership stake that Conor expressed interest in before could actually be in play at the negotiating table. The most intriguing matchup is the trilogy fight at 155lbs for Conor’s Lightweight title with Nate Diaz (20-11). The two seem to almost be destined to have this matchup come to light. Whatever the future for Conor McGregor holds, he proved that Saturday night he was a worthy competitor for the great Floyd Mayweather and that MMA has come a long way in the past 20 years. Conor McGregor has transcended the MMA world and is the face of the UFC without a doubt, hopefully, he comes back and gives the UFC fans one more great moment before he potentially rides off into the sunset from the active fight game.
Saturday night may not have lived up to the hype, but honestly, how could it have. These guys had a world tour and had the entire sports world’s eyes on this fight during one of the slowest times of the year sports wise. Floyd Mayweather came out on top, as he should have and Conor McGregor proved that he always had a chance. When we look back on this in a year, the hype will not be remembered, but the legacy of Floyd and the guts of Conor will be center stage. Hopefully, Floyd stays retired as he said he will and continues to promote his up and coming teammates, and Conor goes back to the sport that created him and launched him to superstardom. This was a fun night, but only time will tell if boxing will get any momentum from this matchup. For everyone’s sake, we have to be glad the experiment happened, and that it was away more of a fight than a lot predicted.
