In the world of sports/sports entertainment, nobody gets more grief from the other fan bases than ?Pro Wrestling Guy?. Despite the athletic acumen that is required for professional wrestling, the fact that the product is scripted instantly strips it of any credibility it has, thus rendering it more of play with actors than a sport with athletes. Yet, here we all were last Saturday night, hovering over a fight that was all but scripted in how it would play out. The big scam
The Las Vegas Strip was alive with excitement, millions of people at home were pushing the ?Purchase? button on their remotes, while millions of others (almost 5.1 reportedly) were scouring the internet looking for free links to a fight that the winner was determined the moment ink hit the paper on the contract. The media did its best to sell you the concept that McGregor stood a chance. Showing you his many UFC knockouts of top contenders such as Dustin Poirier, Jose Aldo Jr, and Eddie Alvarez. They showed you the press conferences where McGregor would angrily lash out at Mayweather, not showing one ounce of intimidation at the man who was 49-0 in the boxing ring and would be welcoming McGregor to the sport in what was his boxing debut.
However, if you are a fan of both sports or even just of boxing, you knew that this is not a forgiving sport to newcomers who are facing veterans, especially accomplished ones. The media also failed to show you that McGregor is 2-1 in his last three fights with a stoppage loss, and one win that was by the narrowest of margins. They also failed to mention that the narrow victory over rival Nate Diaz, saw McGregor absorb what was at the time, a record number of significant strikes inside the octagon. Expectation
To expect McGregor to step into the ring and be anything less than a punching bag, was overly optimistic and buying into exactly what Dana White and Floyd Mayweather were selling. By the end of the night, exactly what should have happened played out right before our eyes. Mayweather gift wrapped a couple of rounds to Connor by doing absolutely nothing, and Connor couldn?t capitalize, landing only one significant punch in two rounds of Mayweather inactivity (a nice uppercut that Floyd ran right into).
After that, Connor was essentially beat from pillar to post the rest of the fight despite what the Showtime announcers would have had you believe. They whooped and roared at every punch McGregor landed, despite the fact that any power he had was essentially gone by round 3 due to fatigue, and even the solid shots he landed in round 1 or 2 never seemed to really even bother the smaller Mayweather. Anyone with any true knowledge of both sports could feel the validation coursing through their veins as the referee waved off the fight as Mayweather chased an exhausted McGregor around the ring, raking him with power shots every time he planted he stopped for a moment to breathe. But now that it?s over, where do both sports go from here? Did the fight have any true effect on either sport? MMA
For MMA, the sport gets its most polarizing and marketable star back. Nobody really expected him to beat Mayweather inside a ring, so he doesn?t lose any real credibility and will actually probably benefit from the painful striking lesson that was put down on him by Floyd. If he could deal with Floyd Mayweather in a boxing ring, there really isn?t too much anyone in the UFC is going to be able to throw at him that he hasn?t seen before.
Boxing
For boxing, the sport gets some validation that it sorely needed from the general public. After the Mayweather vs Pacquiao snoozefest, the sport had once again, turned away the casual fan who had tuned in to give boxing one more chance. The Horn vs Pacquiao fight that aired live to a huge audience a few weeks back, was another black eye for the sport, as the casual fan got to witness the underground corruption of the sport. Manny Pacquiao was robbed of what should have been a sure victory in Jeff Horn?s hometown in a fight that saw Horn almost get stopped in round 9. After this fight, however, the sport got to show that you can?t just come into its house and run things. The degree of difficulty in boxing is right up there with hitting a major league fastball or going one on one with LeBron James. Just because you are good at another sport, does not mean that you come waltzing into boxing?s world and take out a world champ.
Both sports will benefit from what was the show of Mayweather vs McGregor, but it was hardly a sporting event. The outcome was inevitable and even the buildup was scripted. The fighters would yell obscenities at each other and parade around the stage like peacocks, and then jump in the same plane together, heading off to the next venue. We ate it up though and these two individuals will reap the monetary benefits. For one weekend, however, we the fans, were all ?Pro Wrestling Guy?.
