Money talks and virtue takes a walk
YOU will, by now, be familiar with the numbers surrounding the Mayweather-McGregor fight.
Speculation has it that the men could receive $100 million each from an event that might be worth up to $1 billion, the revenue generated by pay-perview subscriptions.
Those figures are certainly large, and two rich men will be a great deal wealthier when the fight is over. Big as they are, though, the sums involved are receiving so much attention because there is nothing else to talk about.
There is certainly no persuasive sporting grounds on which this novelty act can be discussed. The expectation from boxing experts is that McGregor will get a hiding.
The latter’s supporters, meanwhile, a cohort quick to anger and quicker to make pests of themselves on social media, remain fiercely loyal to their man.
It will all result in a feverish build-up, weeks of shaping and cursing, a bout that could be over in minutes, and – then what? What will remain?
No worthwhile legacy will be left, nothing that can attract anything but ghoulish interest in years to come.
It is of course all deeply cynical, but Mayweather and McGregor aren’t the first two sportsmen to profit from cynicism. However, at least overpaid soccer players compete in worthwhile games that not only entertain but also have a sporting relevance.
This fight has no virtues at all.