Ultimate combat garnished with a lot of promotion
This is the biggest event that has ever happened in combat sports. This fight will reach over a billion homes worldwide. DANA WHITE, chief executive MMA
LASVEGAS: Hype will collide with reality Saturday as Floyd Mayweather takes on mixed martial arts superstar Conor McGregor in a battle of combat sport kings tipped to be the richest fight in history.
A little over two months after the fight was confirmed in June, May weather and McGregor will touch gloves at Las Vegas’s T-Mobile Arena ina 12- round boxing contest which will be beamed to more than 200 countries and territories.
Fight promoters have breathlessly talked about the bout surpassing the USD 600 million (508 million eur os) generated by Mayweather’ s 2015 fight with Manny Pacquiao, insisting that interest has been off chart.
“This is the biggest event that has ever happened in combat sports,” said Dana White, the chief executive of MMA’s Ultimate Fighting Championship. “This fight will reach over a billion homes worldwide.”
Ringside seats were being offered on secondary ticket markets for an eye-watering USD 100,250 apiece as of Thursday, even though some 1,700 seats in the 20,000-capacity venue remained unsold.
Millions of fans across the United States meanwhile are expected to shell out USD 99.95 to watch the fight on pay- per-view television, the most important economic engine of the spectacle.
FREAKSHOW OR FIGHT?
The sense of anticipation has endured despite an unrelenting chorus of disparagement across the boxing world.
Farce. Freakshow. Circus. Mismatch. Rip-off. Bad for boxing.
It has been impossible to follow the build-up to the fight without being made aware of the nearuniversal tide of derision.
A cursory glance at the tale of the tape explains the cynicism.
Mayweather, 40, is one of the most skilled boxers of his generation, a master of ring craft who retired in 2015 after a glittering 21-year career with a perfect 49-0 record. McGregor, a two-time world champion in UFC, has never boxed professionally and has looked awkward and ungainly during training camp sparring sessions.
He has demonstrated punching power in the UFC, but has never faced an opponent as elusive as Mayweather.
Anything other than a convincing May weather win will be regarded asa surprise; a McGregor victory a monument al upset.