Although widely regarded by most as a "villain," retired former world champion Floyd Mayweather Jr. showed he can be funny a times.
In an interview with Diego in "Awkward Puppets," Mayweather talked about his bank accounts, luxury cars and girls. He even dispensed a marital advice.
Mayweather also asserted that after his "money fight" with Conor McGregor, he is staying retired for good.
source: news.abs-cbn.com
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
