LAS VEGAS -- Described as the fight the fans asked for by the executives who made it happen, Saturday's clash between Floyd Mayweather and Conor McGregor was only ever about one thing -- money.
Having beaten the Irish pretender with a 10th-round technical knockout, Mayweather can retire with a perfect 50-0 record and a payday said to be worth up to $300 million, and the American has promised never to return to the ring.
McGregor, however, is a different story.
His $30-million purse for the fight is 10 times his previous best disclosed purse from the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), where, as he says, he endures "shinbones to the head" as he makes his living.
In the altogether more genteel surroundings of the boxing ring, he made a lot more money with a lot less damage, and his appetite has surely been whetted by the enormous riches on offer.
McGregor has made no secret of his desire for more.
Asked what he liked most about his boxing experience, "Money" Mayweather prompted UFC lightweight champion McGregor to say the cash.
"The check is alright. The check is not bad," the Irishman laughed as he sipped his own "Notorius"-brand whiskey on the podium of the post-fight media conference.
"I've already been raising the MMA (mixed martial arts) checks. I'm still going to be raising the MMA checks when I go back there," he added.
The 29-year-old has started his own website, a clothing line and a number of other businesses, and he was clearly delighted to see the logo of his latest venture, McGregor Sports and Entertainment, in the ring at Saturday's fight.
The value of his brand, however, stems from what he does in the ring or the octagon and the brash personality he displays as he goes about his sporting business.
UFC president Dana White is keen for McGregor's boxing experiment to end sooner rather than later, and said that he was in a position to offer McGregor similar riches for mixed martial arts bouts.
"If our fights do what the (pay-per-view) buys did here tonight, and the gate, we'll all be good, trust me. Nobody will be bitching about anything," White told reporters.
"It takes two very special people in the right place at the right time to do the freakish kind of numbers and the watercooler talk that these guys had. You've got to have the right people in the right place at the right time."
With Mayweather, holder of a handful of the biggest pay-per-view sales of all time, vacating the stage at the age of 40, there is an opening for McGregor to move in and take over as the biggest draw in combat sports.
The problem is that there are few prospective opponents for him in either boxing or MMA who can generate that kind of interest.
A bitter training-camp row between McGregor and boxer Paulie Malignaggi might provide the kind of intrigue that would get fans to part with their money to see them face each other in the ring, but McGregor is most likely to return to the octagon to fight Nate Diaz.
Diaz gave McGregor his first UFC defeat in a 170-pound match-up in 2016, which McGregor avenged months later with an epic five-round decision victory at the T-Mobile Arena, before going on to win the organisation's lightweight title.
With the teak-tough Californian more than a match for McGregor in terms of trash talk, a trilogy fight to bring that rivalry to a close is about the only thing that would make sense -- and the required amount of dollars -- for McGregor at this point.
source: news.abs-cbn.com
But analyst says McGregor's punch stats are deceiving
Conor McGregor was apparently more successful than Manny Pacquiao in terms of landing punches against the elusive Floyd Mayweather Jr.
Compubox numbers showed that the mixed martial arts (MMA) superstar landed 117 shots on Mayweather during his 10th round technical knockout loss to “Money May.” Pacquiao, on the other hand, connected only 81 punches when he fought Mayweather back in 2015.
But fight analyst Ed Tolentino said that is an inaccurate comparison of McGregor’s work rate to Pacquiao’s.
“That is deceiving. Remember that Pacquiao was handicapped, he fought with only one good shoulder,” Tolentino pointed out in an interview with ABS-CBN News.
“Also note what the computers can’t see. Except for the left uppercut in the first round, majority of Conor's punches were pitty-pat punches. The jab was anemic and he can’t get proper leverage for his left hand.”
Tolentino said Mayweather knew McGregor will have issues with his stamina since the Irish fought for only 25 minutes for most of his MMA career. When McGregor started slowing down, Mayweather stepped on the gas, he said.
“Let him throw a lot and the faster will the fatigue set in. That's exactly what happened,” he said.
Tolentino believes McGregor will even have a shorter fight if forced to a fight a puncher like Pacquiao.
“It’s so easy to be impressed with Conor going 10 rounds, but people forget that Floyd is not a fast starter and does not go for quick KO. He has scored only two knockouts in the last 10 years,” he said.
“If Conor goes 10 rounds with a puncher like Pacquiao, then I will be impressed.”
source: news.abs-cbn.com
LAS VEGAS — A ruthless Floyd Mayweather scored a 10th-round technical knockout over mixed martial arts champion Conor McGregor on Saturday, cementing his legacy as one of boxing's all-time greats.
McGregor, making his professional boxing debut, had boasted he would knock out the 40-year-old American early but his lack of ring savvy betrayed him as Mayweather improved to 50-0 to surpass heavyweight great Rocky Marciano's 49-0 record for most wins without a loss or draw.
Whether the megafight will be the richest of all-time, as promoters predicted, is still to be determined but Mayweather left no doubt of his place in the pantheon of boxing greats in what he said was his last fight.
As promised, McGregor came out full of fury and menace but Mayweather, long regarded as the finest defensive fighter to step into the ring, left few openings and used the first three rounds to feel out his opponent.
By the fourth round Mayweather went on the attack and started landing blow after blow against a suddenly desperate McGregor who was bravely hanging on while clutching and grabbing the American.
In the 10th, Mayweather moved in for kill pinning a visibly fatigued McGregor against the ropes and landing a flurry of punches when the referee stepped in to stop the fight. (Reporting by Steve Keating in Las Vegas; Editing by Frank Pingue)
source: news.abs-cbn.com
LAS VEGAS — As he gets set to face undefeated boxer Floyd Mayweather in their multi-million dollar bout on Saturday in Las Vegas, much is being made of Conor McGregor's lack of pro boxing experience, but it may turn out to be his greatest strength.
Mayweather has faced 49 boxers and beaten them all - 49 men who have studied the craft for years and years, and yet none of them could find a way through his submarine-tight defence and stinging attack.
But even though he has little by way of experience, McGregor — and in particular his left hand — still poses a huge danger to Mayweather's proud unbeaten record.
Despite the fact that he is about to become the best-paid boxing debutant in history, McGregor, who started boxing as a boy before making the switch to mixed martial arts, has never had a top-level encounter as a boxer.
That is not to say that he is a complete novice when it comes to the "sweet science," as boxing aficionados love to call their sport.
Mixed martial arts is exactly that — a cocktail of combat disciplines with whoever manages to mix up the most potent brew from their striking and grappling skills coming out on top in what can be brutal, grueling encounters.
McGregor's striking is second to none, and his devastating left hand has powered his ascent to the top of the Ultimate Fighting Championship, where he became the first fighter to hold two belts simultaneously.
He showed his knockout power when decking Jose Aldo after 13 seconds to win the featherweight belt, and it was his laser precision in a flurry of four punches that sent Eddie Alvarez crashing down as he won the lightweight crown last year.
His movement is also mesmerizing — quick on his feet, his head bobbing slightly but constantly as he seeks new angles of attack.
Always meticulous in his preparations, it is unlikely that Mayweather has ever faced a southpaw with McGregor's power and style of movement before, and unlike his previous 49 opponents, there is little or no footage of McGregor sparring for him to study.
There are question marks over McGregor's endurance following his submission loss to Nate Diaz in 2016, where he emptied the gas tank looking for a big knockout and ended up putty in the hands of the rangy Californian.
Together with his head coach John Kavanagh and his vastly knowledgeable striking coach Owen Roddy, McGregor has been working to ensure that he can last the distance over 12 rounds of boxing.
McGregor can fight going forward or choose to sit back and counter-punch, but it is highly unlikely that Mayweather will seek to take the fight to his taller opponent, meaning the Irishman will have to take the initiative.
That means cutting off the ring and chasing down the elusive 40-year-old American if he is to have any chance of delivering on his promise of a knockout blow from his eight-ounce gloves within two rounds. (Reporting by Philip O'Connor)
source: news.abs-cbn.com
LAS VEGAS — Conor McGregor, who stands to make up to $100 million from Saturday's boxing match against Floyd Mayweather in Las Vegas, is not known for his humility, but the Irishman certainly hasn't forgotten where he came from.
When the 29-year-old mixed martial arts champion recently bought a yacht he named it "188," after the number of euros he used to receive as a social welfare payment from the Irish government as recently as four years ago.
Back then, few could have dreamed of the fame and untold riches that combat sports would bring him, but McGregor — who calls himself "Mystic Mac" due to his ability to predict the outcome of his fights — never doubted himself.
Born in a working-class suburb of Dublin, McGregor began boxing at an early age before moving towards the burgeoning new sport of mixed martial arts as a teenager.
His rise as a fighter under the banner of the Ultimate Fighting Championship may seem meteoric, but an early loss as a young pro almost caused him to walk away from the sport.
His mother intervened and asked his coach, John Kavanagh, to encourage him not to give up. Kavanagh, who made a point of never chasing athletes to beg them to come back, made an exception for the brash McGregor.
Luckily for all concerned, it worked out.
McGregor suffered another loss against compatriot Joe Duffy, but then embarked on a winning streak in the Cage Warriors promotion that saw him win the featherweight and lightweight belts there.
Irish fight fans took to Twitter to campaign for a UFC contract for their rising star, and when promotion kingpin Dana White relented in 2013, McGregor was finally in the stable of the biggest show in the game.
He tore through the UFC featherweight division, winning his first seven fights and culminating in a stunning 13-second knockout of Brazilian Jose Aldo, a victory which saw him crowned the organization's featherweight champion.
In a sport struggling to find new heroes, he quickly became the UFC's biggest draw, and they were more than happy to accommodate his seemingly boundless ambition.
He set his sights on the lightweight belt, but when then-champion Rafael dos Anjos pulled out of their title fight due to injury, McGregor's career hit its first major obstacle.
Californian Nate Diaz was drafted to replace dos Anjos, and he promptly submitted the Irishman in the second round of a welterweight bout after McGregor tired himself out throwing huge left hands looking for another spectacular knockout.
McGregor put all thoughts of the lightweight title aside, demanding and getting a rematch against Diaz that turned into an epic five-round war of attrition that the Irishman edged on the scorecards of the judges.
Having had his revenge on Diaz, McGregor turned his attention to Eddie Alvarez, who had taken over the lightweight title, and was booked to meet him in the main event at the UFC's first event in New York in over 20 years.
McGregor did not disappoint, rocking Alvarez early and going on to win the fight via second round TKO to become the first UFC fighter to hold two belts simultaneously.
With his bank balance growing but nothing that appealed to him in mixed martial arts, McGregor then took aim at Mayweather, one of the greatest names in combat sports history.
A deal was done and he can now look forward to a payday that should give him financial security for the rest of his life.
Brash and profane, yet often thoughtful and intensely loyal, McGregor has a small, tight team around him that prepares him for his fights.
Regardless of what happens against Mayweather he will head to Spain with his family to celebrate the wedding of a friend and to spend some time on his yacht.
But neither he nor his team are in Las Vegas to provide Mayweather with another big purse — throughout his career McGregor has aimed to make combat sports history, and the next stop on that journey is the T-Mobile Arena on Saturday. (Reporting by Philip O'Connor; Editing by Frank Pingue)
source: news.abs-cbn.com
