Mayweather-McGregor will be difficult to resist
On the surface, the promotional efforts for Floyd Mayweather Jr. vs. Conor McGregor are off to a particularly bad start. The bout, scheduled for Aug. 26 in Las Vegas, has been roundly criticized since its announcement Wednesday.
The fight will not be competitive. It is a joke to match a boxing champion against a UFC fighter who has never boxed. It is a waste of time and money.
It is all true, to varying degrees. And, as far as the people who will promote the fight and further pad the bank accounts of Mayweather and McGregor, all according to plan.
Selling a fight on pay-per-view has everything to do with what people do and nothing to do with what they say. Just as long as they are saying something.
The worst thing that could ring in the ears of Mayweather adviser Al Haymon or Showtime vice president Stephen Espinoza or UFC President Dana White this week is silence.
It is just like a political campaign. The early running is not about the strength of a candidate’s policies or even how likable he or she is. It is all about making noise.
Mayweather-McGregor is making noise, even without either of the fighters talking. Much of the noise has been marked by derision, but the fight promotion is off and running.
The next step will be to build up hype. Mayweather, the undefeated former pound-for-pound boxing king, and McGregor, the loudest and arguably most proficient competitor in the UFC sta- ble, are masters of trash talk.
It will follow a somewhat predictable path. Belittling of the opponent, personal insults, foul language, social media baiting and so on. But there are fans who can’t get enough of all that.
Expect to see a controversy that we might never know is contrived or real. There might be a scuffle during a media event, conveniently situated as close as possible to the cameras. McGregor might even throw a water bottle the way he did before taking on Nate Diaz last year.
A few weeks out, you could be lamenting the spectacle of it all, cursing how the histrionics have overshadowed the buildup to the Canelo Alvarez- Gennady Golovkin fight Sept. 16.
You’ll vow not to dig into your pocketbook, think of all the other ways you could be spending your hard-earned money. Those thoughts will be backed up by the boxing equivalent of pollsters. The experts will detail all of the reasons why Mayweather cannot lose, his speed and skill and movement. The sports books will weigh in, citing astronomical odds for McGregor.
But the nagging voice will pop up in the back of your head. “What if Mayweather’s age catches up with him? What if McGregor lands a fluke punch? What if the two are already looking toward a rematch and minded to keep this one competitive?
Showtime will release an allaccess series showing both men’s preparations. There will be panting interviews with McGregor’s boxing sparring partners as to how advanced his pugilistic style has become. Ex-boxing greats will be invited to his gym and cajoled into touting his prospects.
The Mayweather side will revolve around his lavish lifestyle, with the undertone that perhaps he is taking this one too lightly and that McGregor’s unusual style and the age gap between them could cause problems.
There might be a phantom injury, like in the leadup to Mayweather’s one-sided win against Ricky Hatton, when he appeared to complain about a sore hand, the same one he ultimately used to knock out the Englishman.
The show will take us deep into McGregor’s Irish roots, full of dramatic music and moody shots and a grave voice telling us not to underestimate a man who has been fighting all of his life.
It will never make you believe that an upset is likely, but it will convince you it is possible.
By then you’ll start to feel like this is an unmissable event, start to believe the hype that it is a once-in-a-lifetime meeting of two popular combat sports. The voice telling you that you might, however unlikely, miss out on something incredible will begin to drown out the one saying that $80 or $90 or whatever the price is a heck of a lot of money.
And then they have you, and before you know it, that credit card is sitting on the table and the order has been placed and your bank balance is smaller and thank you very much for your business, tune in Aug. 26.
All you can do then is wait and hope and make sure the beer is cold and the pizza is fresh. And that the snacks look good, because the fight might not.