MONEY TALKS!
Mayweather TKOs game McGregor in 10th round
LAS VEGAS — Floyd Mayweather’s legacy is secure. The Las Vegas sportsbooks’ money is safe, too.
Despite UFC star Conor McGregor’s never-ending string of guarantees to knock out the undefeated legend in his first professional boxing match, Mayweather predictably maintained his perfect record after scoring a 10th round TKO win in the massively hyped non-title, junior middleweight bout at T-Mobile Arena.
Returning to the ring for the first time since defeating Andre Berto nearly two years ago, the 40-year-old Mayweather (50-0, 26 KOs), now is expected to retire for good after surpassing Rocky Marciano’s revered 49-0 mark and reportedly earning more than $200 million to fight the brash and inexperienced Irishman, who also collected a nine-figure payday, for an event touted to set numerous revenue and viewership records.
“This was my last fight. For sure,” Mayweather said in the ring after the fight. “Tonight was my last fight. I chose the right dance partner to dance with.”
Mayweather, who had won his past seven bouts by decision, hadn’t scored a knockout since beating Victor Ortiz in 2011.
McGregor (0-1), who is 21-3 with 18 knockouts in MMA, received an unprecedented percentage of backing as the betting underdog — and fan favorite — putting the city’s sportsbooks in the precarious position of facing the greatest financial loss ever on a sporting event, if one of sport’s biggest upsets in history were to occur.
Of course, it didn’t Of course, the house won. Of course, May- weather was safe money.
“He’s a tough competitor and I think we gave the fans that we wanted to see… He’s a lot better than I thought he was,” Mayweather said. “He was a tough competitor, but I was the better man.”
“I was just a little fatigued,” McGregor said in response to a question about the stoppage. “I wanted to keep going. … I thought the ref should’ve let me keep going. Let me go down. Let the man put me down.”
The mystery of what the 29year-old McGregor might do in the ring, initially presented prob- lems for the boxer who has defeated every professional he has ever faced over two decades. McGregor was the aggressor early, and Mayweather threw few punches, seemingly having trouble figuring out how to attack the southpaw’s unorthodox style.
McGregor’s impressive power showed flashes early, with the UFC superstar landing uppercuts and hammer punches against one of the greatest defensive fighters in boxing history.
What seemed like a farce became legitimately fun for the fans in the building, but after
McGregor won the first three rounds, Mayweather finally started hitting back in the fourth, the strategy soon becoming clear, with the 29-year-old MMA star showing fatigue, unaccustomed to boxing’s longer fights, which the 40-year-old has perfected.
“That was our gameplan, let him shoot all his heavy shots early and then take over down the stretch,” Mayweather said.
McGregor’s past 10 fights lasted an average of less than nine minutes. Mayweather averaged more than 33 minutes in his past 10 fights.
The crowd got to its feet in the sixth, with Mayweather delivering multiple power punches, which made McGregor look ready to fall. Still, McGregor stuck his tongue out at the boxer midway through the round, eliciting chants of “Conor, Conor.”
Mayweather kept compiling rounds, and though McGregor put together some strong combinations in the ninth, it appeared to be a final gasp. McGregor looked ready to go down twice in the round but held Mayweather to remain standing.
Fortunately for boxing, McGregor didn’t unleash an illegal kick or other MMA maneu- ver, as he had threatened to do earlier this week. Unfortunately, the Irishman was ill-equipped for the transition to a new sport.
Early Sunday morning, Mayweather was set to attend an afterparty at his strip club, where he had spent every early morning this week, leading up to a fight that had the potential to shatter a two-decade legacy in one evening.
There always is potential, though. Usually, predictability is victorious.
As always, Mayweather’s arms were raised and likely never will fall.