With the proposed superfight between Floyd Mayweather and Conor McGregor slowly becoming something of a reality, I feel it?s a good time to wonder at exactly how the fight will go down and how each possible scenario could affect the world of combat sports as we know it.
It?s time to stop pretending, people! There is now a very good chance that we may end up seeing the sport of boxing?s biggest PPV draw, Floyd ?Money? Mayweather come out of retirement and take on the sport of mixed martial art?s biggest draw, Conor McGregor, in a match-up that would mark Floyd?s 50th and Conor?s first fight in professional boxing.
The reason this contest is even being discussed is simple ? money talks, and if there?s one thing these two guys do better than anyone else in their respective sports of choice, it?s making money.
There?s a very real chance that this match ? if signed ? would break PPV records and surpass even the ridiculously popular and financially lucrative 2015 bout between Manny Pacquiao and the man himself, Mayweather. To put this pair on the same billing would combine the audiences of the two sports in a way that has pretty much never been done before (to this extent) and despite the obvious gap in experience and technical skill in the sport of boxing that is evident, you can be damn sure that these two guys would make every second of the build-up unlike anything we?ve seen to date.
It?s completely ludicrous, I know, but seeing as we?re now on the cusp of this frankly ridiculous bout, why not have a little fun with it and try and predict exactly how each possible outcome in this fight will affect the landscape of the sporting world in the months after all is said and done.
For the McGregor fans out there (and I assure you I?m one), this is definitely one of the more likely scenarios to emerge from this saga. Mayweather would go out there and show the world exactly why he?s one of the greatest and most technically sound to ever compete, and McGregor, with his limited experience in the boxing ring, would fail to connect as so many like him have failed to in the past.
It?s not that there?s anything embarrassing about all of this, but for those who tuned in and subscribed to the months and months of build-up and ?will they? won?t they?? chatter, the feeling a fight like this would leave in the hearts of those who hoped and dreamed would be an empty one.
Mayweather would ride off into the sunset with yet another huge paycheck, a perfect 50-0 record and nobody else to coax him out of his retirement. His win over McGregor would perhaps not go down as the greatest or most impressive moment of his career but it would definitely settle the long-lasting argument over the differences between boxing and MMA and for that the boxer would earn the praises of those who always knew better than to bet on the brawler with no true boxing experience at that level.
McGregor would likely return to the UFC, not overly diminished but most certainly deflated somewhat. He will, of course, have earned himself a huge paycheck as well and could at least hold his head high at the fact that he did what virtually no-one else in his sport could arouse enough public interest to do. He?d probably face off against the winner of Khabib Nurmagomedov and Tony Ferguson and with only a few fights of any interest left within the sport of MMA, he?d also retire after settling some old scores but would never compete in a bout of that magnitude again.
