Mayweather won’t thrill MMA fans
Boxer’s style doesn’t mesh with action-oriented group
Of the 5 million or so pay-perview purchasers ready to pay $99.95 for Floyd Mayweather Jr. vs. Conor McGregor on Aug. 26, only a small percentage can claim to be connoisseurs of boxing.
The rest will fall into a wide range of categories: casual boxing observers, general sports fans who enjoy hype and hoopla, those who find Mayweather’s or McGregor’s boastful ways irritating and want to see him lose, plus a giant band of Ultimate Fighting Championship supporters following the Irishman’s one-off crosssport adventure.
It is the last of those that provides the most intrigue going into this lucrative matchup, because not only are they the group that will do most to swell the numbers and boost the pay of the fighters but also those with the greatest potential to be disappointed by the fight.
Their frustration is likely to come less from McGregor’s probable defeat, as even the most starry-eyed romantic accepts that the mixed martial artist is an overwhelming underdog. The outcome that would most irk fans accustomed to UFC shows would be a lack of action. If McGregor is unable to unlock Mayweather’s defensive mysteries and Mayweather is content to sit back, dodge and pick off his rival with occasional potshots, the whole thing might turn into a dull affair.
Technical, tactical, cagey bouts are not loved by boxing followers but are accepted as being part of the business. They happen in the UFC as well, but the response is very different.
Tyron Woodley is one of the UFC’s most accomplished fighters, having completed a successful third defense of his welterweight title at UFC 214 in Anaheim, Calif., on Saturday. In doing so, he produced the kind of performance that Mayweather would surely approve of. Against a tricky and technical opponent in highly rated Brazilian challenger Demian Maia, Woodley out-thought, out-moved and outmaneuvered his foe on the way to a unanimous points decision.
Woodley repeatedly thwarted Maia’s attempts to take him to the ground by slipping out of trouble. He was a master of the hit-and-don’t-get-hit philosophy that has kept Mayweather’s record unblemished and his faculties intact past his 40th birthday.
Woodley was never in danger of losing, and the crowd hated it. The audience booed loudly from the third round onward, chanted “this is boring,” turned on their smartphone flashlight functions and waved their arms from side to side and drowned out Woodley’s interview with jeers.
UFC President Dana White wasn’t enamored either, insisting that Woodley’s low-action victory meant he would no longer get a big-money fight.
It was put to White that Woodley’s effort had some similarities to the style of Mayweather. “Are you Woodley’s agent?” White said, with eyebrows raised.
Perhaps it will be different in a few weeks. One school of thought suggests that Mayweather will want to put on a show to avoid the potential embarrassment of McGregor, a boxing novice, putting up a competitive showing. You would hope that if so many people are willing to hand over $99.95 to see a grand spectacle, there would be some kind of meaningful return for their investment.
A more aggressive Mayweather approach might open up the contest and make for greater entertainment, as opposed to the dud of his victory against Manny Pacquiao two years ago.
Don’t count on it, according to Top Rank boxing promoter Bob Arum, who guided Mayweather’s career in its early years before the pair split in acrimonious fashion.
“Do I think it is going to be a real fight?” Arum asked USA TODAY Sports. “I don’t. With Floyd, it is always take the money and run.”