The Floyd Mayweather vs. Conor McGregor fight is quickly disappearing in the rear view mirror, but there are still folks in the boxing having a hard time computing what they witnessed. By all accounts, undisputed great Mayweather should have smashed boxing virgin McGregor with ease. Instead, McGregor held his own for the first five rounds before fatigue set in and Mayweather TKO’d him in the 10th.
Afterwards, Mayweather admitted the plan was to stay on defense early when McGregor’s power shots were most dangerous and then turn up the pressure later in the fight. That seems like a pretty realistic summary of what happened, and it doesn’t take away from Mayweather’s skills or ignore McGregor’s game performance. But boxing commentator Jim Lampley thinks the truth is more sinister: Mayweather threw those early rounds and carried McGregor deeper into the fight to set up an eventual rematch.
“Why should [Mayweather] retire?” Lampley asked TMZ Sports. “He created a marvelous scam with this whole thing. He allowed Conor to quote ‘win’ 3 rounds so that the whole global MMA wish community could have something to latch onto. I think there’s a decent chance there’s enough suckers out there Floyd could maybe make another $150 million.”
You can count Lampley as convinced MayMac 2 is coming.
“Why else would [Floyd] be putting up videos working out?” he said. “Why else would he let Conor McGregor ‘win’ three rounds? Why did the whole thing last 10 rounds? It’s all a setup!”
McGregor himself has said a rematch could be possible down the road, especially considering how quickly Mayweather likes to spend his money. But for our sanity (and the sanity of everyone in boxing), let’s hope we get a few years off before another massive sideshow like this comes along.
