The Telegram (St. John's)

Bursting bubble?

Mayweather-mcgregor is a stale act already

- BY TIM DAHLBERG

There’s a reason tons of good seats remain for what was supposed to be the year’s hottest ticket.

Actually, there are two reasons the hype bubble surroundin­g the fight between Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Conor Mcgregor has been punctured, at least a bit.

In their quest to extract every dollar possible, promoters wildly miscalcula­ted their audience. This isn’t boxing, with an establishe­d wealthy fan base willing to pay thousands of dollars as they did for Mayweather’s 2015 fight with Manny Pacquiao.

The 20-something UFC fans that are driving this promotion for the most part don’t have 10 grand to blow on a pair of seats. They’ll have to be content to sit in front of the television with a few friends, cheering on Mcgregor from the couch instead of inside the arena.

The other reason might be that the con job that is Mayweather and Mcgregor has been exposed. And, in a revealing twist, it was done by the fighters themselves.

The drama has already played out, almost before it really got started. The act is tired, as anyone who saw the media tour or watched the first “All Access” episode on Showtime can attest.

See Floyd play with his money. Watch Conor model fur coats and boast that his net worth will quadruple.

Listen as they scream profanitie­s at each other, then try not to laugh at the inside joke they share as they face off for photograph­ers.

It’s all a big tease, a fantasylan­d built on dreams and hopes. It’s as phoney as the $100 million check that Mayweather likes to wave around when the truth is he can’t even afford to pay his taxes without selling some of his assets.

That’s enough to sell it to home viewers at $99.95 apiece. It’s entertainm­ent, much like Wrestleman­ia, and a good excuse to get a few friends together for a party.

But it’s a little tougher to justify $15,000 (plus $1,292.81 in service fees) for two seats in Section 4, Row S of the T-mobile arena that are so far from ringside you’ll need to spend another $100 for a pair of binoculars to see the action.

 ?? AP PHOTO ?? This July 13 photo shows Floyd Mayweather Jr., left, and Conor Mcgregor facing each other for photos during a news conference at Barclays Center in New York.
AP PHOTO This July 13 photo shows Floyd Mayweather Jr., left, and Conor Mcgregor facing each other for photos during a news conference at Barclays Center in New York.

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