On August 26th, 2017, the world was captivated by a professional boxing Pay-Per View main event for the first time in a long time. This is because of the mixed martial artist phenom, Conor Mcgregor, stepped out of the octagon and into a boxing ring to go toe to toe with soon to be Hall Of Famer, Floyd Mayweather.
This fight generated so much hype as everyone wanted to see if Conor McGregor could cross over to a sport he has little experience in and be the first person to defeat Mayweather. Unfortunately, boxing does not have the following it once had, which is why Floyd Mayweather was fighting for more than just a 50-0 record as he was also fighting for the well-being of professional boxing.
The question was, does McGregor have what it takes to defeat the undefeated Floyd Mayweather.
The Bout started with a rather slow 3 rounds from Floyd Mayweather, as he didn’t land many punches. Mayweather Fans began to worry because Connor McGregor came out the gate with explosive energy and actually looked like he knew how to box.
However, during the 3rd round of the fight, Connor McGregor’s mixed martial arts tendencies began to surface as he began to attempt to throw hammer fists to the back of Floyd Mayweather’s head. While this is a legal technique that’s widely used in mixed martial arts, it is an illegal technique in professional boxing.
It wasn’t until the 4th round that we began to see Floyd Mayweather get more physical. He started to use the ropes less and throw more punches that were landing. This was forcing McGregor to clinch at which point he would try to throw more hammer fists, which put McGregor in penalty territory.
At this point, Connor McGregor was proving that he carried himself well in a boxing environment. However, at the end of the 5th round, he appeared as if he was beginning to run out of steam. Despite this, both fighters came out in the 6th round with a lot of energy. They both even taunted each other in the 6th round. By the end of the 6th round, it was obvious the Connor McGregor was slowing down.
Floyd Mayweather, on the other hand, was showing that he 49-0 for a reason as he appears to have plenty of energy. The 7th round was huge for Floyd Mayweather, as he was able to land huge punches on Mcgregor through the round.
By the time there was 1:30 left in the 9th round Connor McGregor was completely gassed and Floyd Mayweather began to capitalize on it. The referee had to call the fight in the 10th round after Floyd Mayweather landed numerous combination that left the extremely tired Connor McGregor in a dazed state.
While Floyd Mayweather walked away victorious at the end of the night, Connor McGregor’s performance throughout the fight cannot go unnoticed. He was able to shock the world by keeping up with Floyd Mayweather up until the end.
Floyd Mayweather walked up to McGregor paid him a lot of respect moments after the fight ended. With one of the most highly anticipated boxing matches in history books, we can only hope that the Floyd Mayweather V.S. Connor McGregor fight will revitalize professional boxing’s following.