Alex Tatman & Alex Kriese
Contributing Writer & Sports Editor
The recent boxing match between boxing’s five-division World Champion Floyd Mayweather Jr. and MMA’s Two-Division World Champion Conor McGregor threw down Saturday night in Las Vegas. This is the first time in history that a boxer and a mixed martial artist have fought at this level.
This fight has been hyped since the beginning of June from Los Angeles to London. Both McGregor and Mayweather threw verbal punches at each other, getting into multiple stare downs and even taunting one another—McGregor with Mayweather’s backpack full of money, and Mayweather sarcastically sporting an Irish flag. Many people believe that the smack talk went too far. Mayweather himself tweeted “talking doesn’t win fights.” No matter which side you were on, the past three months have been perhaps the most exciting that the world has seen from boxing or MMA since the mid-1990s with Tyson.
McGregor had to change up his preparations this time around. After all, this was McGregor’s boxing debut. A boxing fight can be slightly longer than an MMA fight, so McGregor had to increase his cardio exercises. In the other corner, Mayweather came out of retirement for the fight. Mayweather had not competed in the ring since Sept. 12, 2015 against Andre Berto. During the post weigh-in interviews, both fighters promised that the fight would not go the distance, and they were right.
McGregor had a wonderful showing in his debut fight winning the first, second, third and eighth rounds against one of the best living boxers in the world. McGregor landed 110 punches on Mayweather in 10 rounds, compared to Manny Pacquiao’s 81 in a full 12 round fight. However, Mayweather came back stronger and connected solid hits on McGregor to give him the victory. Both Mayweather and McGregor’s attitudes after the fight contrasted starkly with their bravado before. Both were humble and respectful of each other and praised the other’s strengths, thanking them for a well-fought fight.
Though the press conferences and the fight itself, each fighter brought home a nine-figure paycheck, over $100 million for McGregor and around $350 million for Mayweather.
With the commercial success of the UFC and boxing, cross fights have the potential to become more regular and as entertaining as a fight between the best pound-for-pound boxing and MMA fighter matches in the world.
Featured Photo: @THENOTORIOUSMMA/TWITTER
