IT’S TIME TO TALK SENSE, NOT TRASH
McGregor and Mayweather have traded ugly insults, but now...
THE most disturbing remark uttered by Conor McGregor during the run- up to his dollar-laden fisticuffs with Floyd Mayweather came not on a public stage during one of those foul-mouthed rants.
It slipped out in a quiet anteroom at Wembley after the pair of them had spent most of the evening spitting venom into each other’s faces to boost Sky Box Office subscriptions in the UK come Saturday night. Slipped out so genteelly that we boxing, UFC and showbiz scribes with whom McGregor was chatting thought at first it was rather touching. McGregor said: ‘This has been the most amazing event of my life.’
Then he added that he can hardly wait for his new-born son to grow up so he can show him all the ‘historic’ footage.
Within this bubble where hundreds of millions are about to be added to already bulging bank accounts, it took a moment for the penny to drop.
Would you really want your son to watch film of his father and another adult calling each other bitches, p******, motherf******, a******* and every other expletive they can think of?
The purses for this boxing match between the high priest of the mixed martial- arts octagon and the undefeated maestro of the ring could reach a hundred million dollars for McGregor and three times that amount for Mayweather.
Yes, yes, we know they were acting up to sell tickets but do a few bucks more really make it worth sinking into so degrading a spectacle? Let alone setting it before your infant offspring?
There is a whiff of artifice about this encounter between the leading men of different combat disciplines and the manufactured hostility between the two does nothing to dispel that suspicion. Nor does it enhance their image, certainly not as role models to the young.
Yet there are signs that the audiences are tiring of this crass form of hype. Anthony Joshua and Wladimir Klitschko treated each other like gentlemen before their world heavyweight title spectacular yet still sold out Wembley Stadium’s 90,000 capacity and both ended up winners in public esteem.
So now we come to fight week in Vegas. Nearly all the tickets for the T-Mobile Arena on the Strip have been sold, despite prices so high that boxing’s indoor gate-receipts record will be blown away. Projections for pay-per-view sales on America’s Showtime cable network go beyond the all-time high of 4.5million for Mayweather versus Manny Pacquiao.
So is it too much to ask that these two protagonists now behave themselves? Starting today as they present themselves to the fans at the glittering venue.
They are about to do manly battle. It is time to show respect. Not just to each other but in front of the children.
Mayweather v McGregor is on Sky Sports Box Office early on Sunday morning. Fight set to begin after 4am.