Floyd Mayweather Jr and Conor McGregor are heading to the ring in one of the most anticipated fights, being dubbed ‘The fight of the century’.
This fight is coming across as complete madness and the hysteria around the fight is valid due to a couple of reasons. Firstly, Mayweather is a boxer and McGregor is an UFC fighter. Pretty different, right? Yet, that isn’t stopping the fight from happening. McGregor has never stepped into a boxing ring. Mayweather is coming out of retirement just for this fight. Both are regarded as one of the bests in their respective fields. This is the biggest fight to take place since Mayweather vs Pacquiao in 2015. The media is going crazy over this fight, both sports are in the limelight and this fight won’t be forgotten easily.
On Saturday, 26th August, the fight will commence in the evening at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas – seating 20,000 spectators and millions will be tuning in all over the world to watch. For UK viewers, this means we will be watching it from the early hours of Sunday the 27th.
A fight as big as this is not without controversy and criticism. So far, accusations of racism, extreme trash talking and potty mouth suits have piled up to create one of the most entertaining pre-fight atmosphere. To start off, the press conference tour held four events across the world in four days. Los Angeles, Toronto, New York City, and London. That is a lot of travelling in four days! The press conferences did not fail to disappoint.
In Los Angeles, McGregor donned the famous suit with the words ‘F*** you’ written all over in pinstripe style. As the conference started, McGregor claimed that he will defeat Mayweather by round 4, took shots at his rival’s style and insults were flying all over the place. Spectators had no idea what to expect in the next four days, let alone the media.
The next press day in Toronto was unbelievable for the audience and all those involved. Of course, with Toronto being picked as one of the press locations, Drake (the rapper) had to show up! It is unclear as to who he is supporting but his appearance appeased the crowds and the venue was truly alive by the time he had finished his speech. Fast forward to the 2 main men, Conor remarked to Floyd, “dance for me boy”, which let to accusations of McGregor being racist – the quote has been linked to the Jim Crow era of Southern USA. Mayweather took the Irish flag from the crowd and McGregor commented, “You do something with that flag, I’ll f*** you up.” This conference had to be hard to beat, surely?
However, the next day, in NYC, the two rivals tried to outdo each other in who could arrive the latest, with both refusing to arrive before the other. Here, McGregor addressed the accusations of racism due to his comments to Mayweather. He said he couldn’t be racist because he is “half black, from the waist down”. Take that as you will but does the drama ever end? Mayweather was laughing the whole way through – was it at McGregor and his antics or because of the challenge he is going to face being in the ring with ‘the notorious MMA’?
As the last press conference came to Wembley arena in London, McGregor was given a very warm welcome. Out of all four conferences, McGregor’s biggest support was here. The audience cheered at everything he said, booed at Mayweather whenever he spoke. It can be concluded that the press tour created immense interest in the fight, from fellow professional boxers, critics, and in the general public. UFC president, Dana White, has commented that this fight will be “the biggest fight ever”. The people of MMA are overjoyed with the fight on the line, shedding light on the sport. Freddie Roach, one of the most well renowned boxing trainers said, “Who cares? I would not even turn on and watch that fight. I’m sorry I’m killing the fight, but it’s not a fight.” As you can tell, there are mixed feelings about this whole event and rightly so!
We, as the public, will never know why both these men are partaking in such an event, but the money being offered to both could be tempting. Mayweather is set to cash in a spectacular sum of $100 million upwards. His rival, McGregor is set to rake in around $80 million. Whatever way this fight goes, both will be set for life and could retire permanently.
UK viewers are still expecting confirmation as to what broadcaster will be showing PPV (Pay per view) for the fight, although I feel inclined to say that most likely, SKY Box Office will be showing the fight – they also showed Mayweather vs Pacquaio and other major boxing fights.
It can be guaranteed that this fight will be full of drama, twists and turns that we are not expecting. Many can agree that McGregor is very different from what Mayweather is used to. Could this be the end of Mayweather’s winning streak?
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