All the talk, all the hype already, and it is only going to get more intense as the summer goes on. As announced by UFC president Dana White, boxing legend Floyd Mayweather Jr will be fighting MMA king Connor McGregor at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas live on Showtime PPV.
Reportedly the fight will be fought at 154 lbs, junior middleweight. This is a bit of an advantage for McGregor as he is the 155 pound champion in the UFC and Mayweather is a little diminished north of the boxing welterweight limit of 147 lbs, but McGregor figures to need every advantage he can find. No word on whether it is a 10 or 12 round fight just yet.
For those boxing fans who do not know him, Irishman Connor McGregor is the first man to hold two titles simultaneously in two different UFC weight classes. This is a huge deal as, unlike in boxing, there is only one title per weight class. Furthermore McGregor is a larger than life character who is amazing at selling a fight. All his PPVs easily break a million buys. He is by far the UFC’s most marketable star.
McGregor is also a truly great stand up fighter with outstanding, fast hands and huge power, but it probably won’t matter here. I think of this matchup as the best triathlete in the world versus Usain Bolt, Lance Armstrong, or Michael Phelps. The triathlete is really, really good at all three disciplines, running, swimming, and cycling, but he never specializes. In the water he is great against other triathletes, but not even remotely competitive against Michael Phelps.
The MMA superstar here has spent his life training for multiple disciplines. He has to worry about not only boxing, but muay thai, jiu jitsu, wrestling, judo, and more. Floyd, like Michael Phelps, has been specializing in one discipline his entire life. I completely believe that McGregor has the physical capabilities to be a truly great boxer, but this late in the game it would be difficult for him to develop the technique. Never mind facing one of the best of all time in his debut.
Say what you will about this fight, and really the fight itself is unlikely to be any good at all, but the build up sure is going to be entertaining.
