Floyd Mayweather vs. Conor McGregor is in the books, now all that’s left is looking back on the historic fight and dissecting it in ridiculous detail. In an attempt to satisfy our never-ending desire of discussing Mayweather/McGregor, we spoke to Getty Image’s Christian Petersen, who we had break down some of his favorite shots from the biggest fight in history.
Petersen said it was “surreal” to be ringside. He’s shot Super Bowls, NBA Finals, and NHL Finals but this was huge. He doesn’t watch fighting all that much, but he loves to photograph the action. It’s the ultimate test for an athlete, and while he’s been up close and personal in some of the biggest sporting events ever, including multiple Olympic games, this was definitely special.
The Face Blast
“I don’t remember what round that was taken, 8th or 9th round. I could see in the 8th Conor’s legs were shaking a bit. He came out swinging so hard and Floyd is a very smart boxer. He took the punches and wore him down. Conor was stumbling and gasping. It was a smart fight for Floyd and that’s why he’s undefeated. With the shot, it’s nice when the boxer opens up to you, so many have the shoulder in the way. But Conor’s sweat and spit is coming off his face. It’s great.”
When it comes to this fight already becoming a meme, Petersen is an old vet.
“My first taste of memes came at the Ronda Rousey fight when she lost to Amanda Nunez. The fight was so short I think I only had one good connection photo, but it spread all over and I saw it played up against the famous baseball fight between the Rangers and Blue Jays last year. This photo is in the same shape. Maybe it’s a three-way meme. But that’s what we want at Getty — for the photos to be seen and shared.”
McGregor Walking Out
“I love these shots. I love the action photos, but some of my favorites are the anthem shots when everybody is looking out or the entry shots when you get a spotlight on an athlete. It’s like that in all sports, but UFC and boxing you get these grandiose entrances. The athletes are coming out of tunnels with people all around them. I was fortunate for this, shot. Normally, TV is right in front of the athlete, but they broke away early and you got Conor — as confident as can be with his flag draped over his shoulders and the belt behind him. That’s what everyone paid to see.”
The Weigh-In Scream
“I love that photo. It’s two different personalities clashing. The young and ‘notorious.’ The young and crazy, versus the intelligent vet who has been here and has seen similar in the past with overconfident fighters. Floyd is very smart, he knows what he needs to do, and getting too high up on himself would probably hurt him.”
Mayweather the Victor
“Mayweather has been there so many times. He didn’t jump around or over-celebrate. He walked around, he thanked the ref, he thanked Conor and went to his father as a consummate professional. I’m surprised he wasn’t up there crying, it was the last time he would be in the ring fighting and he did it as perfect as he could.”
The Corner Shot
“The only other time I’ve ever shot Mayweather was from the crowd just watching the fight. I’m so fortunate to be there. I was right in the blue corner, his corner. To see him interacting with his father (and cutman), I’m so fortunate. It was such an adrenaline rush from ten minutes from before the fight started it’s a blur. I’m shooting so many photos and thankfully I have such an amazing support team and editors wading through a sea of photos, and they find that moment that’s special.”
In the grand scheme of his career, Petersen says this ranks right up there in the top five. He was there in London as Kevin Durant and LeBron James embraced in tears as they won the gold medal game, it was the pinnacle. Super Bowls were up there too, but this “is gonna sit up there.”
