As the superfight between Conor McGregor and Floyd Mayweather creeps closer and closer, the last bit of drama between the two is set to take place on the scales.
The UFC champion and boxing superstar will weigh in to make the bout official on Friday night before the festivities on Saturday.
The weigh-in’s represent the last part of the hype surrounding the fight. It’s one last chance for the two to generate some more buzz (if that’s possible) and maybe rope in a few more pay-per-view buys (as if they need the extra).
Here’s all the info you need to check out the pre-fight ceremony and the latest odds for each of the fights on the main card.
Weigh-in info
Where: T-Mobile Arena, Las Vegas
Time: 4:30 p.m. ET
Tickets: Tickets available at ticketmaster.com
Fight card schedule, odds (courtesy of OddsShark)
Floyd Mayweather (-400, bet $400 to win $100) vs. Conor McGregor (+300) Super welterweight
Badou Jack (-450) Nathan Cleverly (+325), light heavyweight
Gervonta Davis (-3500) Francisco Fonseca (+1700), junior lightweight
Andrew Tabiti (-275) vs. Steve Cunningham (+200), cruiserweight
The weigh-in may be a bit more than ceremonial hype if Floyd Mayweather has the inside scoop on the McGregor camp. Just a few days ahead of the weigh-in, Money expressed doubt that the UFC star is going to be able to make the 154-pound limit for the fight.
“I don’t think he’s gonna make the weight,” Mayweather said in an interview with FightHype.com. “Even if he does make the weight, that’s even better, but if he doesn’t make the weight, we’re still gonna fight. But it’s gonna be a heavy fine. Give me that money.”
The veracity of Mayweather’s concern might be questionable. McGregor has routinely fought at the 155-pound limit in MMA and was the titleholder in the 145-pound weight class. It isn’t as though this will be his first trip down to 154 pounds.
In MMA it isn’t uncommon to lose 10 pounds in the days before the fight. With no issues on the scale for McGregor before, there’s little reason to believe that he won’t be able to make the weight on Friday night.
Still, the fact that McGregor appears to be on his MMA weight cut schedule goes against what his nutritionist George Lockhart said leading into the fight.
“For an MMA fighter to reload, they’ll gain 15, 18 pounds, which gives them that advantage (on fight night),” Lockhart said, per Abbey Subhan and Chamatkar Sandhu of MMA Junkie. “Boxing, I want him actually walking in close to weight the week of the fight. Walking in, weighing in and maybe gaining a couple [of] pounds after that.”
McGregor‘s size and power are some of the advantages that have been touted as reasons that the MMA fighter could shock Mayweather. While Money has mostly made his career at weights under 147 pounds, McGregor has proved to be an effective fighter anywhere from 145-170 pounds.
Lockhart‘s idea of having McGregor focus on being lighter and quicker is well taken, though. Come Saturday night, he’s going to see a level of hand speed and footwork that he doesn’t see in the MMA world.
McGregor does have size on Mayweather, but Abel Sanchez who trains boxing superstar Gennady Golovkin doesn’t believe power is his best friend in this matchup.
“He has to make Floyd uncomfortable, and the only way he can make Floyd uncomfortable is to throw shots. He’s a bigger guy than Floyd, but if he’s waiting to land one on the chin, it may be all night,” Sanchez said, per UFC.com. “So he needs to hit him anywhere. Just piss him off and hopefully, while you’re moving your hands, he makes a mistake and you catch him.”
McGregor is getting credit for having power. His chances are predicated on his ability to knock fighters out, but the Irishman doesn’t necessarily have the raw power to connect. His power comes from great positioning and timing.
Neither of those things are easy to achieve against Maweather. Money has had some struggles with southpaws so there is a chance that McGregor is able to catch him in a mistake, but that outcome isn’t likely.
It’s much more likely that Mayweather is able to pick apart the Notorious over the course of a 12-round fight. If there’s someone who is going to be frustrated Saturday night it’s going to be the man making his professional boxing debut against a man who is headed toward a 50-0 record.
Prediction: Mayweather by decision
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