The Floyd Mayweather Jr. vs. Conor McGregor world tour kicked off July 11 with four stops at major metropolitan cities across the globe. And with that, we can say, it’s really happening. This pipe dream of a fight that emanated from the eternally optimistic mind of McGregor has been willed into reality, and it is set to challenge the record revenue numbers generated by Mayweather’s superfight against Filipino boxing star Manny Pacquiao in 2015.
This is a different animal, however, and something that has rarely been seen at the elite levels of combat sports. It recalls the days of James Toney barking his way into an ill-fated matchup with former UFC champion Randy Couture.
We all remember how that one ended.
Nearly everyone in the know thinks McGregor-Mayweather will end in much the same way, with a one-sided drubbing that proves the obvious: that even a super-talent can’t go into another champion’s area of expertise and best him.
Still, this is a fight that has the sports world buzzing, and to offer the obvious, that mass appeal (translating into cold, hard cash) is the main reason such a fight will be sanctioned.
Really, though, it’s worth asking if that’s OK. In a sport where long-term health is at stake, is anyone interested in the safety of the fighters (i.e. McGregor) or are they all blinded by the dollar signs?
Joining me to discuss this is my colleague and MMA lead writer Chad Dundas.
Mike Chiappetta: I’m going to kick this off with the name Rohan Murdock. Who might he be? Less than two years ago, Murdock was put forth to the Nevada Athletic Commission (NAC) as an opponent for undefeated super middleweight boxing champion Andre Ward. At the time, Ward was 27-0 while Murdock was 18-1. Guess what?
The Nevada commission rejected the fight as a mismatch.
Murdock had 19 pro fights, but he had never faced any elite competition, while Ward was already considered one of the best pound-for-pound fighters in the world.
Less than two years later, 0-0 McGregor has been approved to face the greatest boxer of this generation, the 49-0 Mayweather. While it’s true that the makeup of the commission has changed a bit since then, current executive director Bob Bennett was already in his role at that time, as were three of the five current commissioners.
Given their extensive experience, they should understand the huge chasm in boxing skills between McGregor and Mayweather, and they would be within their rights to refuse to sanction it. In fact, some might even suggest that they had an ethical obligation to reject it.
Still, I can’t be an absolutist about this. I must try to put myself in their shoes and understand why such a decision would be nearly impossible to make. With so much money at stake, the fight is going to be made somewhere. Budget shortfalls across America are crippling states, making the prospect of turning down a cash injection from tourism and taxes unpalatable. There must be some pressure from the top to pull this off without a hitch, as if it’s some kind of heist. (And in a way, it is.)
On one hand, no one wants to be a party pooper. This fight is going to be one of the sports events of the year, and fans are incredibly excited about it. That’s a great thing!
On the other hand, what does the commission exist for if not saying no to such folly? Their short mission statement includes the phrase “The Commission administers the State laws and regulations governing unarmed combat for the protection of the public and to ensure the health and safety of the contestants.”
By approving this fight, are they abandoning that pledge?
Chad Dundas: I have to admit it looks pretty damning on the surface, Mike, especially when you start things off by throwing out the Murdock example. If all we had here were the numbers, it would look unjustifiable to throw a man with zero professional boxing fights out there against the greatest pugilist of his generation.
The fact is, Mayweather’s worst sparring partner probably has more boxing experience than McGregor.
But—as you note—we’d be naive to think the NSAC was ever going to do anything besides quickly rubber-stamp a fight of this magnitude.
And you know what? In this case, I’m OK with it.
Maybe, as an MMA reporter, I’m just sticking up for my guy here, but I have a hard time framing McGregor as a helpless sheep who’s being thrown to the wolves. Do I think he’s going to get unbelievably schooled by Mayweather in their boxing fight? Of course I do.
But I don’t fear much for McGregor’s physical health in this matchup.
He’s not just some jerk off the street, after all. McGregor has been fighting professionally for nearly a decade, has been at the pinnacle of MMA competition for the last two years and is the first man ever to simultaneously hold two different UFC titles in two different weight classes.
If he were going out there to fight an in-his-prime Mike Tyson, I might consider it unconscionable malice to sanction this fight. But the truth is, he’s not.
Mayweather has never been a particularly ferocious offensive fighter. Most likely, he’ll foil McGregor’s amateurish style with his peerless defense and movement and cruise to a unanimous decision.
Make no mistake, Mayweather will win the match in a landslide, but I don’t think McGregor’s in tremendous danger of grievous bodily harm.
Am I wrong, Mike?
Chiappetta: When we think of Mayweather, we consider him as a strategic boxer. He’s patient and crafty, and he creates traps for opponents to fall into. That’s been his standard operating procedure for two decades. Because he takes his time, we don’t view him as a “dangerous” fighter, but when we take into account the skill differential, isn’t it possible that Mayweather opens up his offense in a way that he won’t do against actual peers?
Generally, I tend to agree with you, Chad. It’s more likely that McGregor will leave with some bruising, a black eye, and a whole lot of cash than it is that he gets knocked out cold and hard. But what’s the point of going through the dog and pony show of sanctioning fights if not thinking about these hard questions?
According to the Association of Boxing Commissions and Combative Sports (ABC), a commission may approve a fight if the following information is similar: boxing record, boxing experience, boxing skill and physical condition.
Everyone on the Nevada commission would have to admit that in only one of those categories are Mayweather and McGregor “similar”: the last one.
Is that enough?
Again, I’m not saying I don’t want to see it or won’t watch. I do, and I will. Some of what I’m saying is hypocritical. But the commission is supposed to be better than me and you. They are supposed to think about the things fans (and fighters) don’t want to think about, and they are supposed to put the health and safety of the athletes first. It is crystal clear that is not happening here. It is crystal clear that is not even a remote concern.
McGregor may not get brutally knocked out, he may even have a couple of good moments, but for the most part, the chasm between him and Floyd should make everyone uncomfortable.
That the Nevada commission could overlook that so casually makes me think not just about this August spectacle, but about the other decisions they are making in the name of money or staying in the good graces of powerful fight promoters.
I’m sure everyone involved with the commission is blinded by the money involved or the spectacle of it all, but come fight night, that is one group that is going to be watching breathlessly in hopes that nothing goes sideways.
Am I being too harsh on them, Chad? You seem less bothered by their rubber-stamping, so what responsibility do you think they have here?
Dundas: I don’t think you’re being too harsh. I think you’re mostly on the money. In a theoretical way (and most practical ways, too) I agree with you. Those are all the things that a state athletic commission is supposed to do, and it’s not too harsh to want to hold them to the standards they are meant to keep.
But anyone who has ever had the misfortune of sitting through an NSAC meeting—either in person or streamed online—has had any notion of it as a pristine and wholly principled body dashed in a heartbeat. You and I have both probably seen athletic commissions in a number of states do things that made us cringe, Mike.
In my view, sanctioning a fight like Mayweather vs. McGregor is far from the worst thing I’ve seen an athletic commission do. This fight may be way out on the fringe of what is appropriate, but for now, I’m OK with it.
McGregor might be a fish out of water here. He won’t win this bout—or, if he does, it’ll be the biggest upset in the history of modern sports—but he’s a still a high-level professional fighter. He ought to know how to defend himself enough to at least keep it from getting scary.
And maybe I’m playing both sides of the coin here, but if we are going to have a borderline spectacle fight like this, I feel better having it in Las Vegas. At least in the fight capital of the world the commission, referee, ringside officials and physicians stand a good chance of being highly experienced.
I’ll take that over having this fight in Missouri or Texas or almost anywhere else—and we both know that’s what would’ve happened if the NSAC had turned up its nose and refused to sanction it. The promoters and fighters would’ve packed up the circus tent and kept moving until they found a state willing to give the green light.
Maybe I’m wrong, Mike. Maybe the things that await McGregor inside the boxing ring will be so horrific that it changes my mind. Maybe I’ll regret that this fight was ever made.
But for now, I’m riding the wave, baby.
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