As fight night approaches, GARY LEMKE previews Floyd Mayweather and Conor McGregor and offers a prediction for SportsClub.co.za.

It was a little over two years ago that boxing brought you the ‘Fight of the Century’. It turned out that there were better fights that night in the MGM Grand car park than in the ring, where Floyd Mayweather eased to a 12-round points decision over Manny Pacquiao.

For his hour’s work, Mayweather pocketed $220-million, taking his career earnings to over $1-billion. It was a fight that lacked plenty in spectacle, with Pacquiao unable to penetrate the American’s watertight defence and being picked off on the counter.

The worst damage to Mayweather that evening in May 2015 was to his ego, with suggestions that he hadn’t ‘come to fight’. The Pacman claimed a shoulder injury hampered his non-performance.

This weekend we’re facing the second ‘Fight of the Century’ in  27 months. Again it features Mayweather, now a 40-year-old, unbeaten in 49 fights, against an MMA convert and the poster boy for UFC, Conor McGregor. Oh yes, a charismatic, yet trash-talking 29-year-old, who has never been involved in a fight under boxing’s Queensberry Rules.

Mayweather’s cheque is a guaranteed $100-million, but it will rocket upwards as people around the world tune in to watch. In the United States it will cost $100 on pay-per-view, and in Britain, some £20. McGregor’s purse starts at $80-million, but that too will soar upwards of $100-million.

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So, given what transpired between Mayweather and Pacquaio, why is there such a demand for a 40-year-old coming out of retirement against a boxing novice, when general consensus is that McGregor has zero chance of success?

The answer is: intrigue. Fans expect Mayweather to win – imagine the damage to boxing’s reputation should he be beaten – but many want McGregor to defy the predictions and knock Mayweather out. As fight night nears, more and more people are buying into the romance of the occasion.

Throughout the latter stages of Mayweather’s career, fans have supported the underdog, which is often the case in sport. He has been, quite simply, too good for his own good. So good that he should be considered one of the sporting greats of all time, but many will try to find factors that don’t allow him to be.

Although Mayweather has stopped 26 of his 49 opponents since turning professional after the 1996 Olympics, he hasn’t stopped anyone in six years, the last opponent not to hear the final bell against him being Victor Ortiz, back in 2011.

In his last seven fights he had perfected his defensive skills, mastering the art of ‘hit and not be hit’. Many call that boring, as witnessed by his display against Pacquaio. Those people are likely to be in the McGregor camp for this weekend’s scheduled 12-rounder.

McGregor has fuelled the hope of an upset by changing his original prediction of a knockout inside four rounds to knocking out Mayweather inside two rounds, then ‘in the first 10 seconds, but definitely the first round’. In doing so, the betting odds on him have tumbled spectacularly.

So, as we gaze into the crystal ball, what do we see? Mine is very clear.

McGregor is a born fighter, a tough man from the streets of Dublin with not a streak of fear in him. As he has said, what’s a punch to the face when you’ve been involved in a sport (MMA) where a leg kick will make you feel the shin bone hit the side of your head.

McGregor’s bravery might be his own undoing this weekend.

I see him coming forward, perhaps at some times even comically, trying to create new angles that Mayweather wouldn’t have encountered in over two decades of professional boxing. The Irishman might look squarer in stance to a ‘normal boxer’, trying to unsettle the American veteran with quick punches in bunches, all the while looking to lower the boom with his left hand.

The theory is that if he catches Mayweather flush, we will see the greatest sports upset of all time. I disagree. Mayweather has a great chin and he’s not easy to hit.

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Mayweather has promised to be aggressive, but he surely can’t stand there trading with McGregor in the first three rounds. Instead, he will look to draw the sting of the Irishman, perhaps tying him up expertly when the two get too close and so frustrating McGregor.

The first three rounds might be surprisingly even, but from round four I see Mayweather pulling away. His supreme boxing skills will shine through, and by round seven McGregor’s face will be bloodied and puffy and 74-year-old referee Robert Byrd will have no option but to step between the fighters and save the brave Irishman from absorbing more punishment.

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