Fight of the century
Was the lucrative Mayweather and McGregor fight worth the hype?
MY Mum asked me what I thought of the bout yesterday. My Mum. Asked about boxing.
You want proof this bout between a southpaw brawler in his pro debut and a slick veteran with a perfect record was worth a dime, you now have it.
Regardless of your views on the sweet science, the truth is the sport remains more than capable of drawing a crowd and wooing the unwoo-able.
Punters stood on the footpath yesterday to peek in to Gold Coast pubs so congested you couldn’t slide a multimillion-dollar contract between the bodies.
Indeed, this fight was about more than adding to boxing’s litany of freakshows.
And freak show it was. Uncomfortable bordering on unbearable, McGregor looked like a linedancer at a RunDMC concert. Yet, who cares? Was the fight a thing of beauty? Is it ever? Boxing is and will forever be more rocky road than vanilla. That’s part of the appeal.
The fanfare, as ever, was never going to be quantified by what happened in the ring.
It’s all about how many subscribed on pay TV, how much the front-row paid to get sweat splattered on them and how willing sponsors were to get on-board.
The answers are obvious. Did the fans get what they wanted? If we wanted an awkward Irishman getting outgunned by a far more experienced rival, then yes. But, more importantly, did those in the business of making money get what they wanted? We’re still talking about it, aren’t we? EVERYONE single one of us that watched the fight are suckers. Plain and simple.
Hype is the only thing this event had. The pre-fight circus was sensational.
The world was gripped by months of verbal back and forth on a tour The Beatles would have been proud of.
But no matter how much wit, showboating, abuse or moneywaving there was, did we witness the same level and quality in the ring? Hell no.
What we got was one of the best boxers of a generation, an unbeaten 40-year-old, cautiously watch a man who looked more like he was trying to knock on a door than hit him.
Connor McGregor spent months training for this and was beaten up and fatigued by round 8.
It’s the first time I’ve heard people laughing during a boxing match. Millions packed pubs and other establishments who, like many others, paid for the fight the two boxing camps got us excited for. Sponsors and pay-per-view has led to the fight being worth an estimated $US700 million, with Mayweather expected to get around $300 million and McGregor $100 million. I remember watching Brisbane boy Jeff Horn take on Manny Pacquiao from a Gold Coast pub and it was one of the most engrossing displays of sport I have seen. Maybe it was because the two people in the ring cared. Mayweather and McGregor were laughing during their fight. And why wouldn’t they? They fooled us all into thinking it was something worth caring about.