I don't think it was that good a fight. It wasn't terrible but it was only good in the sense that it wasn't as one-sided as predicted. McGregor had a flailing and innaccurate style that expended a huge amount of energy for very little return. His foot work wasn't bad but his punching was wayward and uneconomical (and frequently illegal). Mayweather is a master of defensive boxing. He's very good at not getting hit so he did the logical thing, he conserved his energy and let Mcgregor come on to him and wear himself out and tried only to deliver punches himself when they would count. A solid strategy which worked - and possibly the only strategy, Mayweather is 40 after all - but it didn't make for an exciting fight. The trouble is neither of them are really big hitters. It was clear by round 3 there wasn't going to be a spectacular KO and equally clear that McGregor wasn't going to last the distance at that pace so it was a war of attrition which Mayweather won with superior ring craft, strategic discipline and stamina. He would have knocked McGregor out if the ref hadn't stopped it but only because McGregor by that point had exhausted himself and was incapable of putting up a defence. Anyone can knock out a rag doll. It didn't really show either of them at their best. Mayweather's record speaks for itself. He didn't need to prove his skills, there's hours and hours of footage of him already doing just that and McGregor may be a top cage fighter and he's young and fit with plenty of heart but he isn't by any stretch of the imagination a boxer, at least not at this level. In the end, a win for money men rather than boxing fans.
McGregor is once in a lifetime as far as popularity and star power. But he's not the best fighter in MMA or even in the top 5 all time. Not yet anyway. I don't think he will be, and one of the reasons is because he doesn't need to have another 5 fights to prove anything. He's rich and famous and he can ride off into the sunset now and stop taking head trauma.
You've got to admit he's a pretty special MMA cage fighter. His movement and timing is exceptional. Ok, he got duffed by Diaz (1st time) but Diaz is a bigger man. Super dangerous stepping up the weights in MMA. Maybe we'll see the trilogy but Mc will be wary of him. But yeah, with good few mill in his hip pocket will the hunger still be there. If he carries on it'll be like twisting on 21!
Pretty special yes. Once in a lifetime no. And Diaz usually fights at 155 so they are in the same weight class generally.
I'm not saying your wrong, I'm not sure. But I distinctly remember Conor Mc. announcing after their last fight (which he won) that if Diaz wants the trilogy it's going to be at 145lb. I'm almost certain he's made 145lb in previous fights. Weigh in then pie and chips x 3 plus 6 pints of Guinness, ha ha..
Agree with @Gimlet. Good for some banter and a social but whilst I was curious enough to watch it on youtube the morning after in @doogalman local pub ( ) I was sure it would be as one sided as it was and no way I would have paid. In my opinion Mayweather could have choose when to dispatch of McGregor at will and only left it as long as he did for the sake of entertainment. It's cool that this stuff can happen but it's still a ridiculous joke and just about any top level boxer would have dispatched of MG with as much ease. Once Mayweather turned up the wick in the last couple of rounds it was almost silly to see how much he outclassed MG. Fair do for MG getting to the level where he can bring in the crowd though, can't fault his career work.
I was just thinking that the fight reminded me of the first UFC fights way back in the day when they had all the different martial arts fighting each other. The ones that had actual contact like Brazilian Jui Jitsu, Wrestling or Thai Boxing and stuff like that would annihilate all the traditional martial arts with their misguided 'deadly chi energies' who had never actually practiced hitting something. Restricting a UFC fighter to boxing rules is much the same thing, they're just no where near as good with their hands and don't need to be to win a UFC fight. Almost all boxers would fare even worse if they jumped into the UFC cage.
It would be at 155. They fought at 170 first due to the short notice for Diaz. And at 170 the second time due to Conor wanting to avenge the loss and also not jeopardise his chances of fighting directly for the title at 155.
Bladders I mean before when you said you hadn't watched it. Once you've watched it you can have any opinion. I don't think that floyd let it go on because he wanted it to be a longer fight for the fans/paying public. But it's entirely possible that was the case.
Totally agree, FM waited until McG had worn himself out, and could no longer control the fight or hurt him or cause any embarrassment. Then FM demolished him, claimed the" all time greatest ever" title and ensured his record was 50 & 0. Ali did a similar thing in his 1974 Rumble in the Jungle match against George Foreman, though Foreman was the favorite.
Same strategy perhaps but an absolute travesty to compare this with one of the greatest fights of all time. There was nothing great about this fight other than the prize money.
Conor was cuffing to 145 from about 170. He looked like pure death. He's never gonna fight at 145 again.
