Mayweather says he didn’t KO McGregor to protect him from brain damage

Boxingnews24.com

By Allan Fox: As many boxing fans expected, Floyd Mayweather Jr. took it easy on his opponent Conor McGregor in their fight last month by not going after him to knock him out badly because he thought of saving him from brain damage and to save his career in their fight on August 26 at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Mayweather, 40, walked the UFC star McGregor down slowly in the 10th and hit him at will with shots until referee Robert Byrd stepped in and stopped the fight at 1:05 of the round. McGregor was still on his feet at the time the fight was stopped, but he looked tired and hurt. Mayweather says he could have done a lot worse to the 29-year-old McGregor if he had wanted to, but he held back.

“He has a career. You know, he still has a career. He’s still young,” Mayweather said to the Hollywood “unblocked” podcast. ”(It could’ve been) very damaging. We have to think about these fighters. Even, like, my uncle Roger. Right now, I just got a call just before I came here. He keeps walking off, wandering off. No one can find him. He ends up in a hospital. So, brain damage – it happens. It happens.”

I’m sure the bettors will like to hear the news that Mayweather took it easy on McGregor in order to save his career and keep him from suffering brain damage. People bet a lot of money on these fights. To hear Mayweather saying he was taking it easy on McGregor probably doesn’t help his reputation much. Many people bet on the Mayweather-McGregor fight because they felt it was a real sporting event where both guys were giving it all from the start to the finish of the fight.

If Mayweather was taking it easy on McGregor to save him from suffering brain damage, then that suggests that the fight was more of a joke and not a real sporting event. You don’t have quarterback Tom Brady wanting to take it easy in his games in the NFL to protect the opposing teams. If Mayweather was just half-stepping it against McGregor in their event fight, then that sounds bad, given that it confirms to a lot of boxing and MMA fans that the fight was a sham and not a true fight.

When it was mentioned by the interviewer that McGregor did a lot better than many people thought he would do in the fight, Mayweather said, “OK, hold on. It’s a catch 22. If I blew him out in the first round, they would have something to say. If we let the fight go on a little longer than expect, they’re going to have something to say. So it’s like, damned if I do, damned if I don’t. If I let it go the distance, they’re going to say something.”

So, Mayweather could have knocked McGregor out but he chose to let the fight go longer so he wouldn’t get criticized for knocking him out so quickly? That sounds bad. It sounds like the Mayweather-McGregor fight was a big joke from start to finish. Boxing and MMA fans had to pay $100 to see the fight on Showtime PPV. That’s a lot of money for them to dish out for a fight that wasn’t a serious contest.

“Once again, we’re praising him,” said Mayweather about McGregor. “We’re not praising me. We’re praising him. Because I’m 40 years old, retired for two years. He’s 28, he’s active. I’m inactive. He’s taller, he’s bigger. He may not be stronger. He has a longer reach. He’s taller. He’s bigger. He’s younger. Youth is on his side. I’m just saying, everything on paper links on him. For me to come and be off, and really only train totally, probably three weeks .. and (I was) out every night partying.”

So there it is. Mayweather was parting and not training like he should have been for the McGregor fight. So we’re supposed to feel good about learning this from Mayweather? It’s sad.

Mayweather picked up his 50th win of his boxing career with his victory over McGregor, who had never fought inside a ring in his life. Mayweather broke the longstanding 49-0 record that had been held by the late Rocky Marciano since 1954. Mayweather admitting that he took it easy on McGregor cheapens his record breaking win even more than it already was. I mean, it’s bad enough that Mayweather fought a boxing novice in McGregor, who came into the fight with a 0-0 record. But then to hear Mayweather saying he held back for fear of hurting McGregor. It makes the McGregor fight look like a joke.

If Mayweather comes back to fight McGregor in the octagon, more than a few boxing and MMA fans are going to be suspicious about the fight, wondering whether it’s on the level or just a shame fight.