Patience pays off big time for Mayweather

FLOYD Mayweather admitted his pre-fight trash talk was a smokescreen and the plan was never to ambush UFC megastar Conor McGregor early.

All week he’d spoken about a brutal onslaught and a stoppage in the opening rounds.

The real strategy was all about patience and endurance.

“We had to take our time,” Mayweather said.

“He’d shoot his shots early and then I’d take him out down the stretch.

“We knew in MMA he fights for 25 minutes.

“We knew he fought for five rounds and not 12. It went to plan because after 25 minutes he started to slow down and I finished it off.”

McGregor also promised he would start with a flurry of punches – and he did. For three rounds he could not have given any more.

Mayweather waited to work out his unorthodox style and the big right hand.

In the end it came down to his experience, his ringcraft and boxing science.

An undefeated 50-fight champion, arguably the greatest of all time, against a novice.

A novice who was getting more fatigued with every round and who couldn’t use his arsenal of MMA weapons that made him the UFC champion.

Only heart kept the Irishman going – and a couple of rabbit punches that shook Mayweather and stopped him from finishing it earlier.

We saw some moments that proved the rivalry was genuine. At the end of the fifth round Mayweather shoved McGregor after the bell.

“I was just giving the people what they wanted,” he said.

“I said to him ‘I thought you said it was going to be over in four rounds’.”

It lifted an already electric atmosphere.

When the fight was stopped in the 10th round Mayweather was ahead – eight points with one judge, seven with another and four with the other.

Mayweather landed 170 of 320 punches (53 per cent), according to CompuBox statistics, and McGregor landed with 111 of 430 (26 per cent).

It was Mayweather’s first knockout since 2011.

After months of bitterness, the pair embraced.

Mayweather drifts into retirement with dollars – and a new respect for his rival.

“He was a lot better than I thought he’d be. He’s a tough competitor,” Mayweather said, before stating his boxing career was all over.