In the build-up to the fight between Floyd Mayweather and Conor McGregor this weekend, SportsClub.co.za brings you closer to the action with a daily view by GARY LEMKE.
The talking, most of it a volley of expletives, is nearly over. Less than 72 hours remain before the unthinkable becomes the thinkable. Floyd Mayweather versus Conor McGregor, in a boxing ring. Wow, just wow.
After four choreographed face-offs in North America and Britain, the two fighters met for their fifth and final press conference ahead of this week’s dust-up in the Nevada desert, and understandably most of the trash talk was left where it should be: in the bin.
Sure, McGregor continued his verbal offensive, vowing to stay within boxing’s rules and not risk disqualification – which the bookies make a 6-1 possibility – and his promises continue to range from knocking out Mayweather inside ’10 seconds’, which is a physical impossibility, given that referee Robert Byrd would still need to count to 10, or to going the full 12 rounds at a furious pace.
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Mostly, the 29-year-old UFC convert reckons he will knock out Mayweather, unbeaten in 49 professional fights over the past 21 years, inside four rounds. ‘It depends when I decide to knock him out,’ he says.
And, given the charisma, chutzpah and downright conviction that the Dubliner oozes, there are many who are giving McGregor a chance of winning a contest that would become the biggest upset in boxing’s rich history, and perhaps the biggest upset in the history of sport.
Even those who do not believe a 0-0 boxing novice has a snowballs’ hope against a boxing great, albeit a 40-year-old who hasn’t fought for two years, are waking up to the reality that we might just have some fun and games on our hands.
A year ago we would have laughed off any suggestion that Mayweather and McGregor could square off, wearing 8oz gloves in a junior-middleweight showdown in Las Vegas. Three months ago there were fears for McGregor’s well-being, and a wave of worldwide derision that such a ‘farce’ had become reality.
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Today, box-office revenue records stand to be broken as Mayweather prepares to cash a cheque well in excess of $100-million, while McGregor’s cut will start at around $80-million, but rise significantly as more and more pay-per-viewers tune in.
Now, inside the final 72 hours, there’s no more place to hide. The talking is over, the final tapering is in progress. Mayweather wouldn’t be human if he wasn’t thinking about why his novice boxing opponent won’t blink an eye. Like a piece of dirt on the bottom of one’s shoe, the Irishman is refusing to go away. He is not flinching on the biggest stage he will ever stand on.
Because, no matter the result, there is no other boxing name out there who could help him generate as much interest and intrigue.
The winner of Gennady Golovkin and Canelo Alvarez, which is a real boxing fight on 16 September, perhaps. Then again, if the unthinkable happens and a miracle occurs in Las Vegas this weekend, and McGregor were to set his sights on either of those two warriors in an even higher weight division, boxing’s officialdom ought to withdraw his licence. McGregor’s health would be in serious danger.
But, the fact that the above paragraph is even written shows how McGregor has succeeded in doing his bit to hype the match-up with Mayweather. All conventional thinking suggests it will be an easy night at the office for the American, and punters will wonder how they managed to give McGregor even a puncher’s chance of winning. Yet, the world watches, and waits.
