Floyd Mayweather and Conor McGregor are the two best promoters in their respective sports of boxing and mixed martial arts, and after months of putting those skills to good use, the two have converged on Las Vegas this week for this Saturday’s mega-fight at T-Mobile Arena on Showtime PPV.
Mayweather is the heavy favorite, and for good reason as an undefeated, 49-0 boxer going up against someone that’s never been in a boxing ring as a professional. Despite the fact that Mayweather opened up as a -1100 favorite, the public, in the face of nearly every expert saying he has no chance, has been shoveling money onto McGregor at sports books to drag the odds down as low as -500 for Mayweather. The public’s insistence on buying in to this fight being competitive has to do with the incredible promotional abilities of both fighters.
McGregor has unending self-confidence that, despite this being his first boxing match, he can come in and take down one of the all-time greats of the sport, and talks the talk better than anyone in the business. Mayweather matches that talk, but has been wise enough — as he has against fighters of a lesser talent than him for years — to constantly mix in talk of how dangerous McGregor is with his own trash talk. In doing so, he constantly legitimises this fight as being a competitive bout between near equals, when in fact, few in the fight world would genuinely believe that.
Not only has Mayweather touted McGregor’s abilities, but he’s also made claims that he will step forward and attack the UFC star, despite years of evidence to the contrary. ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith is a boxing fanatic and few in the media world that know Floyd Mayweather as well as him, so ahead of Saturday night’s bout, Uproxx Sports spoke with Smith about the spectacle of the event, the fight itself and why he won’t completely rule a McGregor win out, and why despite all the evidence that Mayweather will be defensive and pick his way to a lopsided, relatively boring win, millions continue to turn out for his fights and purchase his pay-per-views.
You’ve been around boxing for a long time. Have you ever seen the spectacle like this, a buildup like this? Teddy Atlas mentioned Pacquiao-Mayweather as being bigger. Do you think this matches or exceeds it?
No, I do not. I don’t think this exceeds it. I don’t think anything exceeds the Pacquiao-Mayweather build up. That was something that we had waited for so long. Conor McGregor’s relatively new to us, in terms of, you know, this stage, because UFC, even though it’s grown and Dana White and them have done a fabulous job with the sport, it still is a niche sport. Conor McGregor coming over to the boxing venue is very intriguing. It’s an exhibition, but in no way, even from a hype perspective, does this compare to Pacquiao-Mayweather. Not a shot.
You note that it’s kind of a niche thing. Have you noticed, out in Vegas, it feel more like there’s an MMA fan base that’s excited about it, compared to the boxing fan base?
Well, yeah. That’s totally understandable. The MMA fan base is excited because one of their own is getting a tremendous plug and tremendous shine, which ultimately contributes to the elevation of the popularity of the sport. Whereas, with boxers, you’re thinking an entirely different way, because you’re saying that Mayweather is one of the best ever. A brilliant magician, who’s given a novice an opportunity to get in the ring with him, just because the guy talks a lot. He’s a fabulous fighter, don’t get me wrong, but he’s never boxed professionally before. So, you have people within the boxing profession that view it for the exhibition it is, but are also salty, to some degree about it, because the mentality is, why should somebody whose never fought professionally as a boxer get even the opportunity to step into the ring against a world-class champion like Floyd Mayweather? That’s the feeling.
With regards to that, is there anything you can see Conor being able to do in the ring against Floyd to make this, really, an intriguing fight to watch? I’m not necessarily talking about winning because I think that’s almost out of the realm of possibility, but do you think there’s anything he can do to make this an interesting fight to watch, considering how many Floyd fights have fallen flat, compared to the hype?
I have repeatedly stated this point. I always give a puncher a 1% chance. Always, and that will never change. If you pack a punch, particularly in both hands, not just one, you have an outside shot to win. It’s just that simple to me. Do I expect Floyd Mayweather to win? Yes. I expect him to annihilate and humiliate this guy, and give him a lesson in the sport of boxing. But, Conor McGregor’s not coming to box. He’s coming to fight. That means that, listen, we can’t summarily dismiss various possibilities.
Is Conor McGregor going to come? Yes, he is. Is he going to try to maul him, and be physical with him? Absolutely. We’ve seen [Jose Louis] Castillo and [Marcos] Maidana and other fighters try to do that to Floyd “Money” Mayweather, as well.
Conor McGregor’s a southpaw who’s used to kicking and fighting in the UFC. I believe that he has, virtually, no shot, but keep in mind that people have tried to maul Floyd before, and Floyd was deceptively strong. In the case of Conor McGregor, whatever you try to do in terms of elbows and shoulders and shrugging him off of you, and things of that nature, that’s falling right in line with what Conor wants you to try to do, because he’s a UFC fighter. So he’s used to grappling, and wrestling, and doing all of that other stuff.
We assume that Floyd is going to destroy him, and in all probability, accurately so, because we expect this to be a boxing match. If Conor McGregor turns it to something other than a boxing match, who knows what can happen? That’s where the 1% chance comes in.
You talk about how Conor has to make it his fight. One of the things Floyd has been as masterful as anything at, over his career, is keeping fights to what he wants. He keeps fights in his style. Can you speak to his defensive abilities and where he belongs in the pantheon of greatest defensive fighters of all time?
I think he’s one of the, I don’t believe he’s the greatest ever like he says, but I do believe he’s one of the greatest ever. I do believe there’s an argument that could be made he is the greatest defensive fighter we’ve ever seen in our life. I think Pernell Whitaker compares to him in that regard, but that’s about it. Defensively, this man is on another level. He’s beyond brilliant in so many ways. He’s a magician in the ring. He knows how to evade punches. He knows how to soften blows that come in his direction, because he knows how to roll with it. It’s very, very rare that he gets caught with a clean shot. That’s not who he is. He’s just brilliant in that regard, and it really, really helps him because, you know, you just look at him and you just haven’t seen anybody that can conquer that.
I thought that Zab Judah, when he fought him, would be able to give him trouble. I thought Sugar Shane Mosley would be able to give him trouble, and ultimately, he caught him in the second round, but then Floyd made adjustments, came out, and picked him apart. You just see what this guy does. He’s like the coach that goes into halftime and comes out, and the team is completely different because he’s made all the right adjustments. That’s what Floyd Mayweather is. He’s almost the kind of guy, where if you’re gonna take him out, you gotta luck up and take him out with one punch because even if you hurt him, you can’t let him live because he’ll make adjustments and come back and pick you apart. He’s just been able to do it time and time and time again, no matter who he’s gone against.
We’ve heard frustrations from fans, especially after the Pacquiao fight, about it not being an exciting fight. As you mentioned, that’s not Floyd’s style. What is it about him that continues to bring in those fans who have said, “Not again,” but, here they come back?
The opponent. In this case, it’s Conor McGregor. Conor McGregor talks a lot of smack. Conor McGregor clearly believes he can back it up, and he’s an individual that has a history of hurting people. He has that potential. So, when you look at it from that perspective, you can’t summarily dismiss who he is, regardless of who Floyd is. You have to at least respect the fact that Conor McGregor’s been his own man, and he’s been a knockout artist. He’s won in the UFC, a place where they can kick you, and wrestle you, and grapple with you, and what have you. He’s repeatedly knocked people out. He hasn’t submitted anyone. He’s put ’em to sleep. So, that’s what you have to pay attention to when watching this guy, because that’s what makes him so special and so brilliant.
For Floyd, this’ll be his last fight. He’s said he’s gonna come forward. We’ve heard him say that a thousand times. Do you buy, at all, that he’s gonna be a little more forward with his style, and try to be a little more offensive? Or, do you think that’s all part of the drawing people in?
I think it’s part of the drawing people in. I think Floyd’s gonna be Floyd, and Floyd’s gonna fight the way Floyd fights because Floyd doesn’t care about what people think. Floyd cares about his money, and as long as he shows up and earns his paycheck, Floyd is gonna be just fine. That’s just the way that he thinks.
His attitude is that he made all the requisite sacrifices. Every time we speak, he brings up what he had to do in the past. How he wasn’t the A-lister. How he was the B-lister, and somebody else was the A-lister, and how he had to make necessary sacrifices in order to get himself to this point, where he was his own boss, et cetera, et cetera. He talks about that every chance he gets, so he’s highly sensitive to it, because he knows what work he put in to get to this point, and he’s not gonna let anybody take it away from him. He’s not gonna let them do it. He’s gonna sit up there and he’s gonna do things his way because he believes he earned the right to be in this position, and he had to wait his turn. His attitude is his turn is now. He’s doing it. Nobody gets to take that away from him.
