Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
Beauty on the cards..
The Notorious will be victorious supporters predict A-list celebs fly in for £500m bout with Mayweather
TAWNY Jordan is set to KO fight fans as the she takes ring card duties in the Mcgregor-mayweather showdown.
The gorgeous model, 25, is one of four Corona Girls who will have viewers hook-ed when she graces the ring tomorrow night.
Tawny has strutted her stuff in the boxing ring before but it’s the first time she’ll have worked with UFC star Mcgregor. Recalling when she was told the news, she said: “I was like in shock, because I definitely wanted to go to the fight.
“I didn’t know we were going to be the sponsors for it.
“I don’t really like to compare everything I’ve done... but I think this one is going to be part of history.
“The hype is real. The fight is going to be really good. I feel like my kids one day will hear about this. It’s really cool to be part of it.”
CONOR Mcgregor’s fans have turned Las Vegas green ahead of tonight’s £500million showdown with Floyd Mayweather.
An estimated 15,000 of his followers have travelled across the Atlantic for the most eagerly awaited fight ever.
And despite the 29-year-old being a massive outsider with experts and the bookies his supporters won’t hear of defeat.
Dubliner Conor Walsh, 26, said: “The Notorious will do the business for us Irish and for the UFC. Don’t worry about that.”
Bar owners have ordered in extra supplies of Guinness as the Irish and British fans threaten to drink Sin City dry. They will be joined in Vegas by an astonishing array of celebrities who have ringside seats at the T-mobile Arena.
One of Hollywood’s biggest talent agencies has even splashed out £1.5million on 250 VIP tickets for its A-list clients.
Angelina Jolie, David Beckham, Beyonce, Jay Z, Kanye West and P Diddy are just some of the big names expected to attend.
Demi Lovato will sing the US national anthem before the main event, which is expected to be a 20,000 sell-out.
Vegas was yesterday witnessing its biggest overseas invasion since 20,000 Ricky Hatton fans watched his fight against Mayweather in 2007.
Supporters wearing Ireland soccer shirts and wrapped in Tricolours thronged the bars of the strip.
HISTORY
Outside the Nine Fine Irishmen pub at the New York New York casino, Mcgregor fans were full of confidence.
Stevie Mccarthy arrived in Nevada after 20 hours travelling from Darwin in Australia.
The 34-year-old, who is originally from Belfast, told the Daily Mirror: “It’s cost me a small fortune and my fiancee isn’t happy, but I had to be here.
“I’m a huge Mcgregor fan. That’s why I’ve come all this way.
“I’ve got a ticket for the fight which cost me £700 and I can’t wait.
“Nobody is giving Conor a chance but I’m confident he’ll win. The Notorious will be victorious.”
Carpenters Mark Egan and Philip Mellotte, both 29, have flown from Sydney to witness boxing history.
Donegal man Philip said: “We reckon it’s costing us around £3,000 to be here and we don’t have tickets yet.
“But it’s an Irishman fighting the best boxer of all time in Vegas. How could we not be here?”
Mark, from Mayo, added: “I’m a big Conor Mcgregor fan. I’m predicting a second round knockout.”
Around 1,000 tickets remained unsold last night but organisers were confident they would be snapped up.
Nearly every hotel room in Vegas has been booked for the busiest weekend of the year.
High-roller gamblers and
VIPS have paid astronomical sums to bag the most luxurious suites. Nobu Hotel at Caesars Palace, which costs £30,500 a night and has been used by Jennifer Lopez and Johnny Depp, is booked up. While all 21 pent- houses at the popular celeb haunt The Cosmopolitan have sold out for the first time since it opened.
More than 1,200 private jets are expected to fly into the city’s three airports today, forcing aviation bosses to advise jet owners to reserve landing slots.
Nightclubs have signed up A-list celebrities to host post-fight parties
and have created boxing-themed cocktails.
Revellers at The Cosmopolitan can sip on cocktails created in Mcgregor and Mayweather’s honour. Drinks include the Pretty Boy, Bob and Weave, Ginger Warrior, Fighting Talk and Nocturnal Notorious.
Jamie Foxx, 50 Cent and Chris Brown are among the big names performing, while the best tables to hear Scottish DJ Calvin Harris at the Omnia club last night cost £25,000.
Mcgregor is expected to make a guest appearance at the plush Encore Beach Club after he recently signed a two-year deal to entertain partygoers at the casino-resort.
Experts predict the fight will be the biggest grossing in boxing history with Showtime hoping to make £4million in pay-per-view sales in the US alone.
Many cannot afford to watch the bout inside the T-mobile Arena with the cheapest seats going for £1,000. But ticketless fans, who had hoped to watch the bout in Irish bars, will now have to pay more than £100 to see the fight on TV.
Showtime has slapped a ban on any venue showing the clash after securing a deal with MGM Resorts.
It means Mcgregor’s fans will have to pay to watch the fight in one of nine viewing parties inside MGM hotels.