Floyd schools gutsy McGregor Mayweather ends perfect career by crushing UFC star in 10th-round TKO
LAS VEGAS — Floyd Mayweather Jr. put on a show in the last fight of his spectacular career.
Conor McGregor so badly, either.
Mayweather figured out a 50th opponent on Saturday night, letting McGregor have the early rounds before stalking him late and leaving the mixed martial artist defenseless and exhausted on the ropes in the 10th round.
It was a smashing end to a perfect 50-0 career that earned Mayweather more money than any fighter before him — including an estimated $200 million for his last bout.
“I think we gave the fans what they wanted to see,” said Mayweather. “I owed them for the (Manny) Pacquiao fight.”
Mayweather battered the Irishman around the ring in the later rounds, finally stopping him at 1:05 in the 10th with a flurry of punches that forced referee Robert Byrd to stop the fight.
Before a pro-McGregor crowd that roared every time the UFC fighter landed a punch, Mayweather methodically broke him down after a slow start to score his first real didn’t do stoppage in nearly a decade. He did it in what he said would be his final fight, against a man who had never been in a professional boxing match before.
McGregor boxed surprisingly well but, after landing some shots in the early rounds, his punches had little effect. Mayweather then went on the attack. McGregor backpedaled most of the way, stopping only to throw an occasional flurry as the American wore him down.
“I turned him into a Mexican tonight,” McGregor said. “He fought like a Mexican.”
Though Byrd cautioned McGregor for hitting behind the head on two occasions, there were no real fouls in the fight and McGregor never reverted to any MMA tactics.
The 29-year-old McGregor had vowed to knock his 40-year-old opponent out within two rounds, and he won the early rounds with movement and punches to the head. But the tide of the fight turned in the fourth as Mayweather seemed to figure out what he had to do and began aggressively stalking McGregor.
Mayweather was credited with landing more than half his punches, as he solved McGregor’s defense after a few rounds. Ringside stats showed him landing 170 of 320 punches to 111 of 430 for McGregor.
With ringside seats costing $10,000, spectators at least saw some reasonable entertainment as McGregor put in a respectable performance. He switched from southpaw to conventional at times and used his jab well, but Mayweather’s experience and ring savvy paid off in the end.
“Our game plan was to take our time, go to him and take him out in the end,” Mayweather said. “I guaranteed everybody this fight wouldn’t go the distance.”
McGregor was trailing badly on all three ringside scorecards through the ninth round, with scores of 89-81, 89-81 and 87-83. The Associated Press had it 87-84.
Mayweather was widely criticized for not going after Pacquiao in their 2015 megafight, and he didn’t make the same mistake this time.
He seemed to stagger McGregor with a series of punches in the ninth, landing at will as the Dubliner desperately tried to clinch.
The end was near as the two fighters came out for the 10th and Mayweather went right after McGregor again.
He landed a punch that set McGregor reeling across the ring, then landed a combination that had the MMA man defenseless as Byrd moved in to call a halt to proceedings.
McGregor didn’t complain when the fight was stopped and went over and hugged Mayweather.
“I was a little fatigued,” he said. “He was composed in there, that’s what 50 pro fights can give you.”
He seemed almost happy in the ring afterward, secure that he had given a good performance even in losing.
“I thought it was close though and I thought it was a bit of an early stoppage. I was just a little fatigued.”
McGregor’s challenge of Mayweather was fueled by social media and turned into a spectacle as the two fighters promoted the bout. It figured to make him $100 million or so, and gave McGregor a name and brand outside of the UFC.
He also got some respect from a fighter who has been in the ring his entire life.
“He’s a lot better than I thought he’d be,” Mayweather said. “He’s a tough competitor, but I was the better man tonight.”