Mayweather v McGregor fight fills the pockets but empties the soul
I still don’t get it, I really don’t. When this contest was announced, the purpose of putting together a boxer and a UFC/MMA champion for a proposed “superfight”, I was dubious to say the least. As expected, it was hyped to the max in the media. When it became clear the fight was going to be included in official record books, I was amazed. Why not get the All Blacks to take on Germany at football and then have a return fixture playing rugby union? That makes just about as much sense to me.
Floyd Mayweather, 40, a great welterweight boxer with a long career, retires (assuming no more comebacks), with perfect 50 and 0 record. Ireland’s Conor McGregor, much younger at 29, is a multi-champion within the worlds of UFC and MMA. Someone, somewhere, had the bright idea of bringing the two together for a boxing match with the victorious Mayweather reportedly pocketing around $300m, and McGregor a $100m – even by mega-money sport standards these days, that is incredible money.
So it was a highly rewarding event for them both in the financial sense, but in any other sense also? Only they will know. This fight now holds the record for the most ever PPV sales, at 6.7 million, thought to be worth in the region of $60m. No wonder Mayweather’s nickname is Money.
But of course, sports stars earn what the market forces dictate, and the amounts they earn are usually driven by their own standing in their sports, with their popularity – or sometimes notoriety – creating the demand. They set the bar themselves, by being outstanding in their field and being the people we all want to see – either live at the event or on TV. I think the average sports fan doesn’t really have a problem with that?
So, as a contest, what did it provide? In short, the five-weight world champion boxer, having his 50th pro fight, beat the guy having his first professional bout in the same discipline. Gee – who saw that coming, eh?
In terms of the fight, McGregor got gradually picked apart as the rounds went by, with Mayweather never seriously looking in any trouble, with plenty in reserve. Sure, McGregor landed some decent enough blows, but nothing that unduly troubled Mayweather.
The chasm in technique and experience was always going to be too much for McGregor, barring something truly exceptional happening. The Irishman was courageous and willing, as you’d expect, but that was never going to be enough in this situation.
Watching McGregor’s stance, which looked to this observer weirdly eccentric all night, merely confirmed the fact that this was no normal boxing contest. McGregor’s technique looked precisely what it actually is – honed and perfected in UFC and MMA, with little or no similarity to a regular boxing style. Without wishing to labour the point – that’s hardly helpful in creating a meaningful contest in boxing terms.
So in essence, we saw a brave but fatigued McGregor running out of steam and ideas, and Mayweather, as ever the defensive master, staying out of trouble but looking as though the years were rapidly catching up with him, fighting at a tempo that perhaps could best be described as sedate.
After a minute and five seconds of the tenth round, referee Robert Byrd stopped the contest, handing Mayweather his 50th career win by TKO. At that point, Mayweather was ahead on the scorecards of all three judges. Dave Moretti (USA) scored it 87-83, Burt Clements (USA) had it 89-82, and Guido Cavalleri (Italy) scored 89-81.
Mayweather thus retires with his perfect record of fifty fights and fifty wins. He eclipses the great Rocky Marciano’s heavyweight record of 49 and 0. McGregor’s fledgling boxing career, which looks likely to have ended already, stands at one fight, one defeat. When you strip the money away, one really does wonder what the point of this exercise was – unless money is, contrary to the popular saying – everything.
It’s a depressing thought to have, but I also wonder if Mayweather agreed to this fight to guarantee his record-breaking 50th victory by fighting a boxing novice – as opposed to a genuine, experienced boxer who knew what he was doing? At Mayweather’s stratospheric level of wealth, did money even come into it? Too cynical? Perhaps…but the word realistic sometimes sits closer to cynical than any dictionary would have you believe.
Personally, I find little to applaud or admire about this exercise. It didn’t stack up as genuine contest to me for all the obvious reasons. If it was some kind of experiment, to assess future interest of similar contests, then I have no idea what it proved – if anything.
No more of this type of “event” – please.
By Chris Tribe
28th August 2017
Copyright © 2017 Chris Tribe. All Rights Reserved.
Photo credit: Beckham pz10/Wikipedia Commons
Български: Мейуедър удря десен прав на Макгрегър
Chris Tribe Sportswriting 