It’s official: the fight is on between Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Conor McGregor.
The August 26 bout has been on the books since June, when the two camps signed on for Saturday’s main event at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. But it wasn’t until Friday’s weigh-in that Mayweather and McGregor were deemed ready to step into the ring.
Both combatants came in under the 154-pound super welterweight limit. Mayweather Jr. tipped the scales at 149.5 pounds, just above his usual 147 pounds at welterweight, while McGregor came in at 153 pounds.
“That’s the worst shape I’ve ever seen him in,” McGregor said afterwards, per USA Today Sports’ Martin Rogers. “I am a professional. I make weight. I am in peak physical condition, everyone can tell I am ready. I will be a lot bigger (than this), and a lot bigger than him. I see a man afraid.”
Mayweather, though, has seemed anything but fearful in the lead-up to this mega-fight. He’s even bragged about eating out at Burger King—hardly the kind of grub one might expect a finely tuned athlete to take in.
“Gotta keep that weight on,” Mayweather said previously on the UFC Embedded YouTube series, per For The Win’s Luke Kerr-Dineen.
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He won’t have to for much longer. Win or lose, Mayweather will be toasting his latest massive payday on Saturday night, perhaps with a third retirement on the horizon. The odds, though, point to Mayweather emerging from the ring a perfect 50-0.
Odds, per OddsShark: Mayweather -450, McGregor +325
Fight Time: Coverage begins at 6 p.m. ET on Showtime PPV, with Mayweather-McGregor scheduled to start at 11:55 p.m. ET.
Before Mayweather and McGregor touch gloves, boxing fans will be treated to a triple-header of title fights:
- Andrew Tabiti (14-0, 12 KOs) vs. Steve Cunningham (29-8-1, 13 KOs), cruiserweight
- Badou Jack (21-1-2, 12 KOs) vs. Nathan Cleverly (30-3, 16 KOs), light heavyweight
- *Gervonta Davis (18-0, 17 KOs) vs. Francisco Fonseca (19-0-1, 13 KOs), super featherweight
Davis can’t win the title after failing to make weight.
Mayweather-McGregor is without a championship at stake, though. When Mayweather retired in September 2015, he did so with a slew of welterweight crowns in his collection. Of the six main titles in that weight class, four are currently split between Keith Thurman (WBA Super and WBC), Lamont Peterson (WBA Regular), Errol Spence (IBF) and Jeff Horn (WBO), with two (The Ring and lineal) still vacant.
Neither should mind the lack of hardware at stake, though. Both fighters figure to take home nine-figure paydays, thanks in large part to what could be a record-breaking count of pay-per-view buys at $99.95 apiece.
Most signs (if not all) point to Mayweather emerging victorious. As much as McGregor‘s advantages in size, reach, youth (29 vs. the 40-year-old Floyd) and recency of his last fight of any kind (November 2016 vs. Eddie Alvarez at UFC 205), his sheer lack of experience in a boxing ring leaves him playing catch-up.
That would be the case against any professional boxer, let alone one of the best to ever lace them up. If McGregor can land some big blows early on, he could muster an outside shot at what would go down as one of the greatest upsets in sports history. Otherwise, he’ll have a tough time hanging with an elusive defensive maestro like Mayweather, who should win handily.
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For one day more, at least, these two looked like they were on equal footing on Friday. McGregor, draped in the Irish flag, was cheered on by a throng of his countrymen. That same audience showered Mayweather with boos, though he had the support of his father, Floyd Sr., and his usual brigade of bodyguards.
When the two met face to face one final time, McGregor railed off a flurry of inaudible trash talk while Mayweather stood silently, perhaps waiting for his chance to fight back on Saturday.
“Weight doesn’t win fights,” Mayweather said, per Rogers. “Fighting wins fights.”
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