Tag: Opinion

Floyd Mayweather Jr. beat Conor McGregor by 10th-round TKO Saturday night in Las Vegas, and with their megafight now a thing of the past, the two will head off in what are likely to be significantly diverging directions.

McGregor remains UFC’s lightweight champion, having held the belt since his victory over Eddie Alvarez at UFC 205 last November. Not only is he one of the company’s 12 champions, he’s also arguably the biggest star in UFC.

According to Tapology, four of UFC’s five biggest pay-per-view buy rates came when McGregor was one of the headliners. UFC President Dana White will want McGregor back in the Octagon as soon as he’ll be physically ready to perform.

In June, White told MMAjunkie’s Mike Bohn and John Morgan that McGregor wants to fight Khabib Nurmagomedov on Nurmagomedov’s home soil.

“You know what Conor told me? He said, ‘I want Khabib in Russia’,” White said. “Isn’t he (expletive) awesome? He’s like, ‘I want Khabib, in Russia.’ He’s awesome. Conor McGregor is a (expletive) unicorn. There’s nothing like him. He’s working on boxing Floyd Mayweather and then he’s talking about fighting Khabib in Russia right after.”

Nurmagomedov is the No. 1 fighter listed behind McGregor in the lightweight rankings on UFC.com, but he may have to go through Tony Ferguson in order to face off with the champion.

The two went back and forth earlier this month on Twitter:

Nurmagomedov and Ferguson were originally supposed to fight for the interim lightweight title at UFC 209 in March. Nurmagomedov was hospitalized prior to the bout, forcing UFC to scrap its plans.

Having McGregor fight the winner of Nurmagomedov vs. Ferguson would make sense in terms of merit and timing. They’re the two best lightweight contenders, so either would be a formidable opponent. And having McGregor wait for the victor would allow him enough of a break after the Mayweather fight to physically recover and then shift gears to his mixed martial arts training after spending months honing his boxing technique.

McGregor’s relatively strong showing in the ring does, however, create the possibility he’d embrace a full-time transition to boxing. Yahoo Sports’ Chris Mannix doesn’t believe that would be an advisable pursuit:

Mayweather may be one of the greatest fighters of his generation, but he’s also clearly in the twilight of his career. Were McGregor to take on younger boxers who are in their prime, he may run into serious trouble.

While McGregor’s boxing career could potentially be getting started, Mayweather’s may finally have reached its conclusion. He told Showtime Sports’ Jim Gray Saturday’s victory will be his final fight:

Mayweather now has his 50th career win to surpass Rocky Marciano. Regardless of how he got there, Mayweather can point to his 50-0 record as the defining aspect of his legacy in the ring.

From a self-preservation perspective, Mayweather also has little reason to fight again. He’ll turn 41 in February, and although he hasn’t shown a significant decline from his prime years, leaving on top is far better than overstaying your welcome in sports.

Finances would almost certainly be the driving factor in whether Mayweather fights again.

Mayweather stands to make nine figures from this weekend, and at least some of that is going to the federal government. ESPN.com’s Darren Rovell shared a report from Law360 that stated Mayweather’s representatives asked the IRS to wait until after the McGregor fight for Mayweather to pay his $22.2 million outstanding tax bill.

Further financial difficulties down the road could offer an incentive for Mayweather to continue his boxing career.

Even if he never needs to make another dollar to live comfortably for the rest of his life, the prospect of another nine-figure payday could entice Mayweather to step in the ring for the 51st time.

The only hangup there is that it’s hard to see who Mayweather could fight to make that happen. He has already fought Canelo Alvarez and Manny Pacquiao, and a rematch with either guy probably wouldn’t break any revenue records. In addition, Keith Thurman doesn’t have the broad popularity of Alvarez or Pacquiao.

Gennady Golovkin would be a blockbuster opponent for Mayweather, but there’s virtually no chance he would put his perfect record on the line against someone with Golovkin’s skill and punching power.

Few expected Mayweather to fight McGregor until the fight was actually announced, so a return for Mayweather shouldn’t be ruled out completely.

But the odds are fight fans saw the last of Mayweather as an active boxer Saturday night.

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Floyd Mayweather earned a 50th career win and reportedly nine figures worth of money Saturday night in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Money defeated Conor McGregor at the T-Mobile Arena via a 10th-round technical knockout to push his sparkling career record to 50-0. He also surpassed the great Rocky Marciano, who went 49-0 during his tenure in the ring.

Mayweather garnered much more than bragging rights, though, as Dan Rafael of ESPN.com noted the Nevada State Athletic Commission released contract figures Friday saying Money notched a guaranteed purse of $100 million.

According to Rafael, McGregor’s minimum purse was $30 million.

However, the paydays didn’t stop there. Rafael explained each fighter earns a share of the promotion and said McGregor’s take home was “likely to exceed $100 million,” while Mayweather was staring at “another payday well in excess of $200 million” after he made approximately $250 million in his 2015 fight against Manny Pacquiao.

Both of them earned their money during an entertaining fight that featured a number of momentum swings.

Despite a lack of experience, McGregor appeared to be the better boxer in his first professional boxing match during the opening few rounds. He even landed a noteworthy uppercut on Money to seize early momentum, although fatigue became an issue for someone not accustomed to fighting in 12-round battles.

“I thought it was close though, and I thought it was a bit of an early stoppage,” he said after the fight, via Arash Markazi of ESPN. “I was just a little fatigued. He was just a lot more composed with his shots.”

Once the fatigue set in, the technically brilliant Mayweather took over and dominated the final few rounds. He was aggressive with his jabs and took the fight to McGregor so much in the 10th the official had to stop it and declare him the victor.

The statistics bore out the change of momentum. Markazi shared the CompuBox numbers, noting “Mayweather outlanded McGregor 130-60 in rounds six [through] 10 after McGregor had a 51-40 edge in landed punches in [the] first five rounds”:

Chris Mannix of Yahoo Sports praised McGregor for holding his own in an unfamiliar arena against an all-time great:

It is natural to wonder about a rematch after the MMA fighter was fairly impressive against the career boxer, but McGregor said “of course” when asked if he would return to UFC, via Ariel Helwani of MMA Fighting.

Mayweather also said to the crowd “this was my last fight, ladies and gentleman,” via Markazi.

Doubters will be quick to point out the last time he retired he didn’t stick to his word, which is why Saturday’s fight was possible. However, there was the potential to go 50-0 dangling right in front of him, and he ultimately returned and didn’t miss his chance.

There was also the hefty payday waiting to be had.

Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com

Floyd Mayweather earned a 50th career win and reportedly nine figures worth of money Saturday night in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Money defeated Conor McGregor at the T-Mobile Arena via a 10th-round technical knockout to push his sparkling career record to 50-0. He also surpassed the great Rocky Marciano, who went 49-0 during his tenure in the ring.

Mayweather garnered much more than bragging rights, though, as Dan Rafael of ESPN.com noted the Nevada State Athletic Commission released contract figures Friday saying Money notched a guaranteed purse of $100 million.

According to Rafael, McGregor’s minimum purse was $30 million.

However, the paydays didn’t stop there. Rafael explained each fighter earns a share of the promotion and said McGregor’s take home was “likely to exceed $100 million,” while Mayweather was staring at “another payday well in excess of $200 million” after he made approximately $250 million in his 2015 fight against Manny Pacquiao.

Both of them earned their money during an entertaining fight that featured a number of momentum swings.

Despite a lack of experience, McGregor appeared to be the better boxer in his first professional boxing match during the opening few rounds. He even landed a noteworthy uppercut on Money to seize early momentum, although fatigue became an issue for someone not accustomed to fighting in 12-round battles.

“I thought it was close though, and I thought it was a bit of an early stoppage,” he said after the fight, via Arash Markazi of ESPN. “I was just a little fatigued. He was just a lot more composed with his shots.”

Once the fatigue set in, the technically brilliant Mayweather took over and dominated the final few rounds. He was aggressive with his jabs and took the fight to McGregor so much in the 10th the official had to stop it and declare him the victor.

The statistics bore out the change of momentum. Markazi shared the CompuBox numbers, noting “Mayweather outlanded McGregor 130-60 in rounds six [through] 10 after McGregor had a 51-40 edge in landed punches in [the] first five rounds”:

Chris Mannix of Yahoo Sports praised McGregor for holding his own in an unfamiliar arena against an all-time great:

It is natural to wonder about a rematch after the MMA fighter was fairly impressive against the career boxer, but McGregor said “of course” when asked if he would return to UFC, via Ariel Helwani of MMA Fighting.

Mayweather also said to the crowd “this was my last fight, ladies and gentleman,” via Markazi.

Doubters will be quick to point out the last time he retired he didn’t stick to his word, which is why Saturday’s fight was possible. However, there was the potential to go 50-0 dangling right in front of him, and he ultimately returned and didn’t miss his chance.

There was also the hefty payday waiting to be had.

Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com

For the first three rounds, Conor McGregor looked like he belonged. By the end, the numbers paint the picture of a typical Floyd Mayweather fight—just with a different result.

Mayweather recorded a 10th-round TKO of Conor McGregor in their prizefight Saturday, just his third knockout in the last decade. Referee Robert Byrd announced a stoppage with McGregor staggering on his feet midway through the round, though the UFC legend-in-the-making disagreed with the decision.

“I thought it was close though and I thought it was a bit of an early stoppage,” McGregor said after the bout (h/t Mike Bohn of Rolling Stone). “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.”

McGregor, even if the fight were to continue, had no chance of winning. Mayweather was up 87-83, 89-82, 89-81 on the three scorecards when he scored the knockout. Unless McGregor hit Mayweather with a knockout of his own—unlikely given the relative weakness with which his late-round punches were landing—he was going to lose regardless.

Mayweather said the early-round woes were all part of his gameplan. No doubt one of the smartest boxing minds ever to step in a ring, Mayweather said his strategy was to wear McGregor down early and then take advantage of his over-aggressive tendencies.

“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, via Bohn. “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.”

If this is indeed Mayweather’s last fight—and he confirmed once more after the bout that it is—that’s probably for the best. Fighting an inexperienced star like McGregor was his best bet at looking peak-Mayweatherish, and he struggled to do so for part of the bout.

McGregor’s unorthodox style had Mayweather ducking and protecting, and his quickness seemingly only came back once his opponent started to slow down. Put Mayweather in the ring with Canelo Alvarez or Gennady Golovkin, it’s hard to see him winning after what we saw Saturday.

While the CompuBox stats look bad for McGregor, he still managed to land more punches than Manny Pacquiao against Mayweather in two fewer rounds. Here is a look at how things played out via the CompuBox scores:

     

CompuBox Stats

Total Punches Landed

Mayweather 170/320 (53 percent)

McGregor 111/430 (26 percent)

    

Jabs

Mayweather 19/58 (31 percent)

McGregor 27/98 (28 percent)

    

Power Punches

Mayweather 152/261 (58 percent)

McGregor 84/332 (25 percent)

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