Berman slates the mixed ‘Money’ fight as a ‘farce’

RODNEY Berman would rather watch paint dry than wake up in the early hours of the morning to watch the Floyd ‘‘Money” Mayweather v Conor ‘‘The Notorious” McGregor circus at the end of the month.

The hype machine of the boxing match between the American superstar and the Irish MMA star has gone screaming into the stratosphere but Berman says he has so little interest in the August 26 fight that it’s barely registered a flicker on his radar.

The revered promoter says it is inconceivable that the authorities have given their blessing to a fight between a boxer and a mixed martial artist.

‘‘I know that all will watch… I certainly won’t‚” he said‚ without mincing his words.

‘‘It brings both codes [boxing and mixed martial arts] into disrepute. ‘‘It’s greed‚ that’s all I can say. ‘‘I can’t believe this was sanctioned.

‘‘A guy who’s never laced on a glove against one of the all-time greats.

‘‘It’s a sad indictment on all involved.”

Mayweather – who is widely regarded as one of the greatest boxers of all time – is undefeated in his professional career with 49-0.

The 40-year-old boxer – who has 26 knockouts – is a five-division world champion‚ having won 15 world titles and the lineal championship in four weight classes.

The 29-year-old McGregor is the reigning Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) champion.

He is a former UFC featherweight titlist and has competed as a feathe lightweight and welterweight and has 21 wins from 24 fights.

The Irishman will make his boxing debut against Mayweather and their fight will be fought strictly under boxing rules.

Berman‚ who has staged super tournaments inside and outside the country‚ is not impressed and has labelled the gimmick as the height of greed.

But that hasn’t dissuaded other boxing personalities from queuing up to get a piece of the “Billion Dollar” contest and WBC president Mauricio Sulaiman is one of them.

Sulaiman was recently quoted as saying WBC officials are thinking about offering a commemorative belt and could even put the WBC Diamond strap on the line for the fight.

This will not have gone very well with a boxing purist like Berman‚ who will celebrate 40 years in boxing on August 29.

Berman is a former attorney whose first tournament was in 1977 when Charlie ‘‘Silver Assassin” Weir knocked Bushy Bester at Wembley Arena on August 29. — DDC