LOVE AT FIRST STRIKE

No longer at his peak at 40, Mayweather TKOs McGregor to stay 50-0
By Homer D. Sayson

LAS VEGAS — At 40
,
there is no doubt that Floyd Mayweather is past his athletic prime. Old age in sports doesn’t discriminate, it eats up even the
best, or in Pretty Floyd’s case, The Best Ever.​

But in his
August 26 mega fight against against UFC star Conor McGregor, Mayweather
held back time in a performance in which he dusted off a slow start before dominating the
two-division mixed martial arts champion.

Despite being retired for 714 days,
Mayweather connected on 170 of the 320 punches he threw, a high 53 percent clip. Floyd,
the face of The Money Team,
also landed 18 of 59 jabs (31 percent) and 152 of 261 power punches (58 punches).

Mayweather parlayed those hits in a sensational 10th round TKO win after referee Robert Byrd halted the fight with 1:58 left in the fateful round.

For a crossover fighter with zero boxing experience, McGregor acquitted himself well, landing 111 of 430 punches (25.8 percent) but he never came close to winning against the elusive Mayweather, who took an uppercut well early in the fight.

One judge had the 29-year old McGregor winning the first three rounds but Floyd took control soon after, and when the fight was stopped
at the 1:02 mark of the 10th stanza
, Mayweather was ahead on all three scorecards.

“This is my last fight for sure,” Mayweather told reporters at the post-fight press conference. He walks away from the fight game with an unblemished 50-0 record, eclipsing the 49-0 mark held by undefeated heavyweight champion Rocky Marciano.

Mayweather’s legacy as “the best ever” is for history to judge. But he is no doubt the king of the box office, selling more tickets and pay-per-views than any boxer who ever climbed the squared jungle. Mayweather’s expected take on this last hurrah is around $300 million while McGregor is expected to take home $100 million.

Although the T-Mobile Arena wasn’t sold out, Mayweather claimed that the gate was $80 million, breaking the record of $72 million for his fight against Manny Pacquiao last May 2015. Pay-per-view buys (at $89.95 and $99.95 for HD) are expected to be in the 5 million mark.

Casino sportsbooks were also big winner, reporting huge revenues on a fight that was the most wagered on in Nevada history. Estimates for the betitng handle range from $100 to $120 million.

When Mayweather, McGregor and the promoters realize how much money was reaped for this event, they might seriously consider a rematch.

I, for one, would like to see an encore.

About Author