Tag: boxing

Floyd Mayweather Jr. looked like a broken shell of himself for the first three rounds. It turns out that was all part of the plan.

Mayweather defeated Conor McGregor via 10th-round TKO in their anticipated prizefight Saturday at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, taking over after a slow start to move to 50-0 for his career. It was his first win via knockout since his fourth-round KO of Victor Ortiz in 2011 and just his third in the last decade.

“He’s a lot better than I thought he was,” Mayweather told Showtime’s Jim Gray in the ring.

For at least the early portion of the fight, McGregor certainly was better than anyone expected. He came out aggressive, landing power punches and seemingly confusing Mayweather with his stance switches and unorthodox style. On more than one occasion, Mayweather tucked his head and turned his back to his opponent—something we’d rarely (if ever) seen before.

But Mayweather persisted. He picked up his tempo beginning in the third round and spent much of the latter few rounds landing power punch after power punch against a gassed McGregor.

“Our game plan was to take our time, go to him, let him shoot his shots early and then take him out down the stretch,” Mayweather said post-fight (via Mike Bohn of Rolling Stone). “We know in MMA he fights for 25 minutes. After 25 minutes, he started to slow down. I guaranteed to everybody that this wouldn’t go the distance.”

McGregor, for his part, said he believed the ref was too quick with the stoppage. Mayweather appeared to have McGregor out on his feet and unable to defend himself when the ref called for the bell midway through round 10.

“I thought it was close though and I thought it was a bit of an early stoppage,” McGregor said, via Bohn. “I was just a little fatigued. He was just a lot more composed with his shots. … When you’re in here in the squared circle, everything is different. Let the man put me down, that’s fatigue, that’s not damage.”

Mayweather also confirmed—again—that he will not return to a boxing ring.

“This was my last fight tonight,” Mayweather said. “For sure. Tonight was my last fight. Tonight I chose the right dance partner to dance with. Conor you are a hell of a champion.”

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Conor McGregor took pride in his ability to turn Floyd Mayweather Jr. into a more aggressive fighter Saturday night before Money sent him packing via 10th-round TKO. 

“I turned him into a Mexican tonight; he fought like a Mexican,” he said, according to FS1’s Jason McIntyre. 

MMA Fighting’s Ariel Helwani said the remark was “100 percent a compliment” and not meant to be insulting. 

This article will be updated to provide more information on this story as it becomes available.

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Floyd Mayweather Jr. picked up the 50th win of his illustrious career, defeating Conor McGregor by 10th-round TKO on Saturday night in Las Vegas’ T-Mobile Arena.

With the victory, Mayweather surpasses Rocky Marciano, who retired in 1956 with a 49-0 record.

Many expected Mayweather to beat McGregor, with the biggest question being whether the fight would last the full 12 rounds. Mayweather’s last knockout was against Victor Ortiz in 2011.

Although McGregor is UFC’s lightweight champion, he was clearly overmatched against somebody who’s one of the best defensive boxers in history. The likes of Manny Pacquiao, Canelo Alvarez, Miguel Cotto and Oscar De La Hoya have all tried to take down Mayweather and failed. McGregor stood little chance in what was his boxing debut.

Saturday’s fight wasn’t about putting on a competitive matchup in the ring. Instead, it offered Mayweather what’s likely to be one more massive payday and granted McGregor the opportunity to earn more from one night than he had over the entirety of his UFC career to date.

ESPN.com’s Darren Rovell projected in June Mayweather vs. McGregor could gross a little over $606 million. The two fighters signed a confidentiality agreement, so their full earnings are unlikely to ever be revealed, but ESPN.com’s Dan Rafael reported Mayweather will take home a purse of at least $100 million, while McGregor will make a minimum of $30 million.

From an aesthetic perspective, Mayweather’s victory over Pacquiao in May 2015 was disappointing, but it was a massive financial success for the pair of stars.

Rovell and Rafael reported Mayweather took home between $220 million and $230 million, while Pacquiao earned $150 million, which was to be divided among he and Top Rank founder Bob Arum.

As long as Saturday’s pay-per-view meets its revenue expectations, it’s doubtful either Mayweather or McGregor will walk away regretting his involvement.

If anything, the two may consider a rematch.

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Showtime will delay the start of Saturday’s main event between Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Conor McGregor due to pay-per-view issues, according to ESPN’s Sal Paolantonio (via ESPN’s Darren Rovell).

Specifically, Paolantonio (via ESPN’s Brett Okamoto) reported Showtime is “stalling” the fight because of crashes in the pay-per-view system. Paolantonio (via ESPN’s Michele Steele) added the fight is in a “holding pattern” due to crashes that have occurred in Florida and California.

Showtime told B/R’s Jonathan Snowden it’s investigating the outages. 

MMA Fighting’s Ariel Helwani noted the technical hiccups could have serious monetary ramifications:

Promoters have yet to provide a revised time for the start of the main event.

According to Yahoo Sports’ Dan Wetzel, the initial plan was for McGregor and Mayweather to walk to the ring after 11:30 p.m. ET, with the opening bell scheduled for approximately 11:55 p.m. ET.

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