This weekend, an event takes place that is being marketed as the biggest event in combat sports history with Floyd Mayweather Jr facing UFC champion Connor McGregor.
As a long-time boxing fan, I’m disappointed that this fight was even made and that it is being hyped so heavily. I understand exactly why it’s happening though. The PPV numbers will probably be huge and everyone involved with it will make tons of money, but is this event actually good for the sport?
It’s possible that this fight will help bring fans from each sport over to the other one, but it’s also possible that the casual fans won’t change their entertainment habits that much over one fight.
There was no real demand for a fight like this to come about in the first place, but obviously the demand came after a heavy promotional thrust. I’m usually adamant about watching any pre-fight documentaries on the fighters’ training camps, but this time I chose not to support the hype machine.
Prediction...
There is zero chance that Connor McGregor will win this fight. Any amount of competitiveness that he offers Floyd would be an upset by itself. The only thing Connor has going for him is that fact that Floyd is 40 years old and hasn’t been in the ring in almost two years. This means that we will be seeing the oldest, slowest, and least powerful version of Floyd in his entire career. To be fair though, Floyd could very well still have a speed advantage.
I see Floyd stopping Connor in the mid to late rounds in a very non-competitive fight.
Silver Lining?
There is a little good news about this fight, and that is two fairly solid title fights taking place on the undercard. First is Floyd’s protege, Gervonta “Tank” Davis vs Francisco Fonseca for Tank’s IBF super-featherweight title. Both are undefeated, but Fonseca has yet to face anything close to A-level opposition.
This fight is basically an easy KO for Tank to add to the highlight reel. Floyd Mayweather says that Davis is the future of boxing, even though the two have completely different styles. Tank is a pure puncher who has been steamrolling opponents for his whole pro career. He does have great potential, and also one of the most fan-friendly styles in the sport today. Mayweather is using this card to showcase some of the fighters in his stable, and it’s a smart business move.
The second title fight is Nathan Cleverly defending his WBA light-heavyweight title against Badou Jack. This is Jack’s first fight at 175 lbs, after having wins over some big names at 168 including Anthony Dirrell, George Groves, and Lucian Bute. Cleverly is a very tough British fighter who is making his first defense of the title he won from veteran Juergen Braehmer last October. This fight is very evenly matched, but I will give a slight edge to Cleverly due to being the naturally bigger guy.
I'll check out the Floyd flight out of curiosity but I'm not going to order the PPV. After this, I'm looking forward to the match up between GGG and Canelo Alvarez in September.
Pics:
Independent via independent.co.uk/sport/general/boxing/mayweather-mcgregor-floyd-vs-conor-fight-date-august-26-venue-odds-purse-predictions-news-a7788416.html#gallery
Giphy
Sources:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/boxing/2017/08/24/mayweather-vs-mcgregor-time-does-fight-start-weekend-date-win/
https://www.mmafighting.com/2017/8/24/16198642/tickets-still-available-for-floyd-mayweather-conor-mcgregor-fight-average-price-trails-pacquiao-bout