Mayweather vs McGregor is a tired, joyless farce

THERE’S a reason hundreds of good seats remain for what was supposed to be the year’s hottest ticket. Actually, there are two reasons the hype bubble surrounding the fight between Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Conor McGregor has been punctured, at least a bit. In their quest to extract every dollar possible, promoters wildly miscalculated their audience. This isn’t boxing, with an established wealthy fan base willing to pay thousands of dollars as they did for Mayweather’s 2015 fight with Manny Pacquiao. The 20-something UFC fans that are driving this promotion for the most part don’t have 10 grand to blow on a pair of seats. They’ll have to be content to sit in front of the television with a few friends, cheering on McGregor from the couch instead of inside the arena. The other reason might be that the con job that is Mayweather and McGregor has been exposed. And, in a revealing twist, it was done by the fighters themselves. See Floyd play with his money. Watch Conor model fur coats and boast that his net worth will quadruple. Listen as they scream profanities at each other, then try not to laugh at the inside joke they share as they face off for photographers. That’s enough to sell it to home viewers at US$99.95 apiece. It’s entertainment, much like Wrestlemania, and a good excuse to get a few friends together for a party. But it’s a little tougher to justify US$15,000 (plus US$1,292.81 in service fees) for two seats in Section 4, Row S of the T-Mobile arena that are so far from ringside you’ll need to spend another US$100 for a pair of binoculars to see the action. – The Independent