Las Vegas Review-Journal (Sunday)
Mayweather wears down McGregor
Wild journey, expected destination for crossover fight
I Twas at a media gathering a few weeks ago when Floyd Mayweather said that if Conor McGregor could go the distance and still lose their globally anticipated fight, he would consider it a victory for the crossover UFC star.
It wouldn’t have been, of course. A loss is a loss.
But what is it we saw Saturday night?
The circus followed a script many believed would occur, with Mayweather taking a few rounds to figure out McGregor and then relying on a whole lot more experience and better conditioning, winning via technical knockout at 1:05 of the 10th round before a crowd of 14,623 inside T-Mobile Arena.
It is a historic outcome on countless levels of both boxing and MMA, beginning with the fact Mayweather has surpassed Rocky Marciano’s renowned record of 49 wins against no defeats and is now 50-0. He said this will be his last fight.
He has said forever that the mark means little to him, but fewer believe that than thought McGregor had a legitimate chance to win.
It also showed the versatile gifts McGregor possesses, a UFC champion stepping into a ring for his first professional boxing match and delivering a far more effective effort than odds suggested. He won the first three rounds — despite what some of the typically bizarre and foolish boxing scores were from two of three judges — before beginning to tire.
McGregor came from different angles and had thousands of Irish fans in attendance and undoubtedly watching back home (if their pay per view actually worked) dreaming of an upset that would have trumped any Miracle on Ice or Jets over Colts or Villanova stun-
ning Georgetown or Buster Douglas knocking out Mike Tyson for the summit of sports shockers.
“He is a tough competitor,” said Mayweather, fighting for the first time in two years after coming out of retirement for a guaranteed $100 million to face McGregor. “But the game plan was to let him take all of his shots early and then take him out down the stretch. He got all those shots off the first 25 minutes, but then he started to slow down.
“I told you guys that I would go forward and wouldn’t back up. I thought I owed that to the fans after the Manny Pacquiao fight. This was my last fight. This is it.”
It was a promotion that began with a world tour of humor and brashness and some vulgarity, and ended with the same sort of technical difficulties that plagued Mayweather-Pacquiao in May 2015. The start of the fight Saturday was delayed as cable operators across the world and the UFC Fight Pass application stalled.
It didn’t reach the point of Showtime searching for some rabbit ears and AAA batteries, but it was closer than the network probably ever imagined.
How this happens in 2017 is a technological mystery, and yet things finally got underway and the script began its slow, predictable journey.
McGregor is a fighter whose cardio has been questioned in the sport he dominates, so to think he could go 12 rounds with Mayweather and remain sharp and focused the entire time without getting gassed was beyond unreasonable.
But McGregor never hit the canvas and he never was cut.
“He is so composed,” McGregor said. “I have to give him great respect. I thought it was close. I just got a little fatigued. He has had a great career. That’s what 50 professional fights will do for you. It was a lot of fun.”
What now that the circus has left town?
McGregor will return to the UFC and could possibly fight Dec. 30 in Las Vegas, having only strengthened his standing as one of the world’s more entertaining and talented athletes.
As for boxing, we are three weeks from Saul “Canelo” Alvarez meeting middleweight champion Gennady “GGG” Golovkin on Sept. 16 at T-Mobile Arena, when a more conventional promotion will afford us one of the more anticipated fights in decades. There is a lot of good to that. But no one can deny the level of global excitement Saturday delivered. Boxing has never been dead — what in the world does that mean, anyway? — and perhaps it even gained more popularity with Mayweather-McGregor.
It was a crazy scene, all right, from beginning to end. It was great, great theater. And it ended how you always knew it would.
Send out the clowns. It’s over.
Contact columnist Ed Graney at egraney@reviewjournal.com or 702383-4618. He can be heard on “The Press Box,” ESPN Radio 100.9 FM and 1100 AM from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Monday through Friday. Follow @ edgraney on Twitter.