Mayweather Jr vs McGregor Fight Week – TnS Podcast #49 – The waiting is almost over as Floyd Mayweather Jr and Conor McGregor are finally set to meet this Saturday night at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. The fight is expected to break box-office records for a combat sport PPV and those expectations have led to an unprecedented level of hype during the severa months of build-up we have had.
The podcast asks the question whether beating the existing record of 4.4 million PPV buys that Mayweather Jr scored when his dance partner was Manny Pacquiao is a reasonable goal. The bottom line is that a good bit of the boxing world is turned off by the bout and shelling out $100 may be too much for boxing heads.
Floyd Mayweather Jr is here to grab the “A” side of the money for this one but it is arguable that he has been transcended by Conor McGregor during the build-up. The bottom line is that the world is going to tune in to see McGregor here.
And there is very little that can happen that will see McGregor “lose.” If everything is on the up and up, he most certainly will lose the fight, but he is unlikely to be embarrassed or knocked out. The longer he goes with the so called best boxer in the world the more he wins in terms of PR. Should he go the distance, there is almost zero chance that the judges are going to see it McGgregor’s way, but people need to remember that Mayweather has not had a legit knockout in many, many years.
The fight is being aired by Showtime pay-per-view and rival HBO is coming to bat with Miguel Cotto vs Yoshihiro Kamegai on their “free” service in just about the same time spot. There are some in the boxing world pointing to that bout as an alternative to the circus that will be going on in Vegas.
Mayweather Jr vs McGregor Fight Week – TnS Podcast #49
Several previous podcasts in the archives are dedicated to this fight but with the fight fast approaching it was time for another in-depth look.
The sports books announced odds for this fight when it was announced and Mayweather Jr opened as a wide -800 favorite or thereabouts. The boxing pundits talked about how that line was not wide enough, especially in a sport where -10000 lines are not unheard of. This fight, between Mayweather Jr and a boxing novice should have been off the charts.
Entering fight week, the line has actually tightened as money has steadily come in on McGregor. McGregor has had an uncanny way of making things go his way in the world of mixed martial arts and it will be interesting to see if his good fortune carries over to the world of boxing.
The undercard is all-boxing as one would not expect UFC President Dana White to allow his brand anywhere near this spectacle. Two world title bouts are set in the cco-feature spots on the PPV as WBA world light heavyweight champion Nathan Cleverly defends his belt against Badou Jack and IBF super featherweight titlist Gervonta Davis takes on the challenge of Francisco Fonseca. Much of the rest of the undercard will air on FOX.
Mayweather Jr vs McGregor Fight Week – TnS Podcast #49 / Check out more boxing news and features at The Sweet Science, where the best boxing writers write.
