Mayweather’s defence foiled Conor

A RUTHLESS Floyd Mayweather scored a 10th round technical knockout over mixed martial arts champion Conor McGregor in the early hours of yesterday morning (SA time), cementing his legacy as one of boxing’s alltime greats.

McGregor, making his professional boxing debut, had boasted he would knock out the 40-yearold American early but his lack of ring savvy betrayed him as Mayweather improved to 50-0 to surpass heavyweight great Rocky Marciano’s 49-0 record for most wins without a loss or draw.

Whether the megafight will be the richest of all-time, as promoters predicted, is still to be determined, but Mayweather left no doubt of his place in the pantheon of boxing greats in what he said was his last fight.

“Rocky Marciano is a legend and I look forward to going into the Hall of Fame one day,” Mayweather said in a post-fight interview. “This was my last fight tonight. For sure. I didn’t have to come back.

“We do foolish things sometimes but I am not a damn fool. If I see an opportunity to make $300 million in 36 minutes why not. I had to.

“But this is the last one, you have my word on it.”

As promised, McGregor came out full of fury and menace but Mayweather, long regarded as the finest defensive fighter to step into the ring, left few openings and used the first three rounds to feel out his opponent.

By the fourth round Mayweather went on the attack and started landing blow after blow against a suddenly desperate McGregor who was bravely hanging on while clutching and grabbing the American.

It was in the 10th round, when Mayweather moved in for kill pinning a visibly fatigued McGregor against the ropes and landing a flurry of punches when the referee stepped in to stop the fight.

REUTERS