Veteran UFC fans are tiptoeing their way into Mayweather-McGregor fight week like cat burglars. Is this really going to happen? Is someone going to drop out at the last minute, or fail a drug test, or attack someone at a weigh-in? Maybe a bad weight cut will hospitalize someone? There’s something that has to go wrong, right? UFC fans are so used to late drop outs by now that an event of this magnitude seems foreign, a promise actually delivered.
So all we can do is take the time to consider what we’re about to see. This is going down, and a 49-0 legend is taking on a two-division UFC champion.
On Friday’s conference call, Mayweather made it clear that Conor McGregor really has nothing to lose (except an 0-0 pro boxing record) while he’s the one risking it all: “I’m taking the bigger risk, I have the 49-0 record. And when a fighter has lost before, if he loses again, it’s nothing. He lost before. But when a fighter has been dominating for 20-something years, never lost, everything is on the line.”
“My legacy. My boxing record. Everything is on the line.”
If Mayweather wins, he’ll beat Rocky Marciano’s 49-0 record in a dubious battle against one of the best MMA fighters in the world. The stakes are surprisingly high considering the context. And you can thank Mayweather for that. McGregor is just the best possible challenger in the equation for a final, huge payday.
“Like (Showtime Sports executive) Stephen (Espinoza) said: it’s all about taking risks. And I wouldn’t be where I’m at if I didn’t take risks. So I don’t mind putting my 49-0 on the line. I don’t mind putting everything on the line for this fight. I feel like it’s worth it.”
Almost everyone believes Floyd is going to have his way with Conor McGregor, but Mayweather has stuck to his guns in delivering a storyline that paints him as an older fighter who can’t move like he used to, so he’ll be in there with the young heavy-hitter in smaller gloves putting his legacy and his name on the line. With the PPV tracking to beat the Mayweather/Pacquiao fight, one has to admit that it’s working.
(Via MMA Junkie)
