Kitted out in a grey checked suit, black shirt and sunglasses Floyd Mayweather was dwarfed by eight monstrous bodyguards as the boxing great prepared to take on mixed martial arts superstar Conor McGregor in a battle of combat sports kings tipped to be the richest fight in history.
Private jets are ferrying celebrities to Las Vegas and bets worth more than a million dollars are being placed ahead of the most talked-about fight of the year.
The bout at Vegas’ T-Mobile Arena tomorrow night could surpass the $600 million (?468 million) generated by Mayweather’s 2015 fight with Manny Pacquiao – a dreary contest that failed to live up to expectations.
The 12-round contest – McGregor’s first professional boxing fight – will be shown in more than 200 countries and territories.
Mayweather’s huge, muscle-laden minders tower over the former five-weight world champion whenever he takes to the stage.
Greg La Rosa is the smallest of them, weighing 18 stone whilst the colossal Adam Plant, stands a mighty 6ft 7in tall and weighs 25 stone.
The man mountain simply known as ‘Badou’ is a formidable 6ft 9in while Alfonso Redic is an incredible 7ft 1in and estimated to be around 30 stone.
Mayweather has prepared for the fight in unconventional style, by spending successive nights at his gentleman’s club ‘Girl Collection’.
Despite the bout taking place tomorrow, he has insisted he will be in ‘Girl Collection’ tonight.
McGregor, meanwhile, has opted for some quality family time.
The Irishman, known for his sartorial flamboyance, was pictured putting the finishing touches to his wardrobe ahead of Saturday’s showdown – where he was outshone by his son Conor Junior.
Conor Junior, born in May, was sat on a table in a blue suit and waistcoat, with an orange tie and sunglasses to complete the look.
McGregor’s tailor is David Heil, creator of the David August brand, who also works with the likes of Kobe Bryant and Sylvester Stallone.
His long-term partner and Conor Jnr’s mother, Dee Devlin, watched on in the lavish surroundings of a penthouse suite while McGregor concluded the fitting session.
Heil was the mastermind behind McGregor’s famous ‘Eff You’ suit, which he wore for the first press conference of the world tour promoting his fight with Mayweather. That is now available to buy for ?5,600.
By contrast Mayweather has chosen to spend the week at his gentleman’s club and even said he would be there tonight.
He said this Tuesday: ‘Believe me, I will be at Girl Collection tonight, Wednesday night, Thursday night and Friday night. Then I’ll be back there Saturday night to celebrate knocking McGregor out. All welcome.’
‘Nobody can beat me,’ Mayweather boasted, adding that he would be in the club tonight.
Discussing his club, he added: ‘Women will always be in style. A regular club, you have to keep renovating it and doing it over to bring people back. A strip club can stay the same forever. Men will always come because they are attracted to women.’
Floyd Mayweather fights Conor McGregor in the Irishman’s professional boxing debut at Las Vegas’ T-Mobile Arena on Saturday.
Here are the significant differences between boxing and the Ultimate Fighting Championship.
LENGTH AND NUMBER OF ROUNDS
A high-level boxing match is almost always scheduled for 12 three-minute rounds. When a boxer makes his professional debut, they are often scheduled for four three-minute rounds, which is usually gradually increased to six, eight, 10 and then finally 12. In women’s boxing, two-minute rounds are largely favoured. Boxing debutant McGregor will fight over 12.
UFC rules dictate that each non-championship contest is to be scheduled for three five-minute rounds. A championship contest is for five five-minute rounds.
In both sports, there is a rest period of one minute between rounds.
THE NATURE OF THE FIGHT
Boxers are officially only allowed to attack their opponents through punching, and even excessive clenching is discouraged and monitored by the referee. If a boxer is knocked down, his opponent is not allowed to resume attacking him until he has returned to his feet and has the referee’s permission to do so.
In UFC, fighters can box, grapple, wrestle, kick-box, and continue to strike their opponent while they have been knocked down.
SIZE AND SHAPE OF THE RING
A boxing ring, within the rules of the British Boxing Board of Control, should have four ropes and be between 16-20 square feet.
A UFC ‘octagon’ must be between a minimum of 20 square feet and a maximum of 32. It is also surrounded by a fence.
CUTS MEN
Boxers regularly provide their own cuts man, and one of their choosing. The UFC, however, provide one for each corner, and that same cuts man works the same corner for every fight of each event.
Profiles of boxing legend Floyd Mayweather and mixed martial arts icon Conor McGregor, who face each other in Las Vegas
SPONSORSHIP
Unlike in boxing, UFC fighters are forbidden by their contracts to pursue their own sponsorship deals. They presently have an overall sponsorship in place with Reebok.
WEIGH-INS
In boxing, a fighter must weigh in at the scheduled time and if he or she is overweight, has an hour to return and achieve the correct weight. If they remain overweight after an hour they do not receive a further chance, though the fight may still proceed.
In the UFC, on the day before a fight, a fighter has a window of four hours in which they can make weight at their own convenience.
GLOVES
A boxing glove covers the entire hand, and in fights between the flyweight and welterweight divisions, 8oz gloves are generally worn.
In the UFC, a fighter’s fingers remain exposed, and the glove generally weighs between 4oz and 6oz.
The so-called ‘Money Fight’ looks set to be one of the most lucrative in history.
Tickets, TV sales, sponsorships and betting could generate close to $600m (?468m) in sales, according to experts, when the two meet on Saturday night.
McGregor, who was once living off unemployment benefit in Dublin, could make more than $100 million, while Mayweather known as ‘The Money’ could rake in $300 million pushing his career earnings towards $1 billion.
Not only that, but this non-title bout is on course to obliterate boxing’s records for indoor gate receipts, pay-per-view sales and betting revenue both sides of the Atlantic.
A gaudy ‘Money Belt’ is also up for grabs to the winner, comprising 3,360 diamonds, 600 sapphires, 300 emeralds mounted in 1.5 kilos of solid gold and set in alligator leather.
Mayweather, 40, who has recorded an incredible 49-0 card and 23 KOs in his glittering 21-year carrer, has come out of retirement for the match.
The Money Man has seen off the likes of Ricky Hatton, Manny Pacquiao and Oscar De La Hoya during his professional boxing career and is aiming to surpass Rocky Marciano’s record and move to 50-0.
McGregor, 29, a two-time world champion in UFC, has never boxed professionally and has looked awkward and ungainly during training camp sparring sessions.
He has demonstrated punching power in the UFC, but has never faced an opponent as elusive as Mayweather. He will also be robbed of the kicks, grapples and ground tackles that UFC allows.
Anything other than a convincing Mayweather win will be regarded as a monumental upset.
Bookies could be the biggest losers on Saturday if McGregor springs a surprise.
Most bookmakers are offering odds of 2/9 on Mayweather which implies the American has an 82 per cent chance of extending his career-record run to 50 from 50.
The big bettors are putting their money on Mayweather, who is 49-0 as a pro. But so many McGregor fans are betting small amounts that the betting slips at William Hill were 18-1 in the Irish fighter’s favor.
McGregor fans have flooded sports books with $100 bills backing the mixed martial arts fighter, and even a late surge of money on Mayweather might not be enough to balance the books.
‘I’m OK now,’ said William Hill oddsmaker Nick Bogdanovich. ‘But you might want to have a heart monitor on me when the bell rings and Conor starts throwing wild lefts.’
Bogdanovich said his chain of sports books will suffer multimillion dollar losses – their worst ever – should McGregor win the fight in any fashion.
If he wins early as he has promised, the losses would be even worse.
Las Vegas is bubbling with excitement ahead of the eagerly anticipated bout. Irish fans have travelled en masse to cheer on McGregor whose rise from the dole to stardom is well-documented.
The 20,000 capacity venue was a hive of activity as workers set about constructing a platform worthy of holding what is expected to be the most lucrative fight in history.
Despite the hype though there have been reports that ticket sales for the fight have been slower than expected and tickets on the secondary markets are selling at a steep discount.
However Patrick Ryan of Eventellect, a ticket management firm, believes the arena will be at full capacity tomorrow night.
