A mismatch of predictable proportions
OPINION: Conor McGregor flailed. Floyd Mayweather Jr. stared. McGregor danced, Mayweather retreated. McGregor connected, Mayweather covered.
For the first three rounds inm Las Vegas yesterday, the celebrated mismatch between the boxing champion and the mixed martial arts artist was awkward and strange.
Then Mayweather finally lost patience with the circus and turned it into a sham.
Mayweather began pounding in the fourth round and didn’t stop, pounding and charging and pounding some more until he finally beat McGregor into a bruised and swollen submission with a 10th-round technical knockout to win a fight that wasn’t.
Mayweather beat his way through the constant jeers of a crowd that serenaded McGregor with ‘‘Ole,’’ and chanted ‘‘Conor.’’ He beat his way out of what would have arguably been the biggest upset in sports history.
In other words, he did what everyone thought he would do against a guy boxing professionally for the first time, only it took a little longer and, in the end, seemed a little sillier.
Mayweather, who said afterward he is retiring, is 50-0.
McGregor, who was scrappy enough to probably warrant an appearance in another similar side show, is 0-1.
Yeah, in the end, what happened in this match that made no sense ended up being a fight that made complete sense.
We knew it would look like this, right? So then why did we get so excited?
‘‘I think we gave the fans what they want to see,’’ Mayweather said. ‘‘He’s a lot better than I thought he was. But I was the better man tonight.’’
McGregor, of course, didn’t agree. The fight was stopped by referee Robert Byrd without McGregor hitting the canvas, but he was clearly beaten up and exhausted and it should have been stopped.
‘‘I thought it was close, [Byrd] should have let me keep going,’’ McGregor said. ‘‘Let him put me down, let the man put me down. I was just a little fatigued.’’
A little? McGregor was wiped out, clearly out of his league in a fight lasting this long, obviously having used up all of his energy early while Mayweather just waited to make his move.
‘‘Our game plan was to take our time, let him have his shots early, then take him out down the stretch,’’ Mayweather said.
In the end, Mayweather hit McGregor 170 times and McGregor landed 111 punches, but several of McGregor’s jabs were off the back of Mayweather’s head. Throughout the fight, McGregor reverted to his MMA moves as the crowd roared and referee Byrd scowled and warned him.
Perhaps Mayweather’s biggest strength was that it didn’t let the odd punches rattle him.
‘‘He’s not that fast and not that powerful, but boy is he composed,’’ McGregor said.
Mayweather left with a bunch of loot, perhaps in excess of US$300 million. McGregor will take around closer to US$100 million.
Amid a summer promotion filled with outlandish insults, McGregor made the most audacious claim, saying: ‘‘I don’t see him lasting two rounds, I think I could end him in one round if I want. Everyone is going to eat their words on Saturday.’’
Turns out, nobody ate their words. Nobody was surprised. The mismatch was a mismatch.
"He's not that fast and not that powerful, but boy is he composed." Conor McGregor on Floyd Mayweather