The once crazy idea that Floyd Mayweather and Conor McGregor could compete against one another in a boxing match was finally made a reality today. Both men went to social media to confirm reports that the terms of the mega fight were finally agreed upon. The fight will be on August 26th at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. The fight will be televised on Showtime pay per view. Dana White said that Mayweather Promotions has total control of the undercard and that there will be no MMA fights on the card, just boxing. It is expected that the undercard will feature mostly boxers who are represented by Mayweather Promotions.
THE FIGHT IS ON. pic.twitter.com/KhW0u3jRft
— Conor McGregor (@TheNotoriousMMA) June 14, 2017
IT'S OFFICIAL!!! https://t.co/ND07Ixugs2 pic.twitter.com/JpqFW5WbcB
— Floyd Mayweather (@FloydMayweather) June 14, 2017
So now that all the rumors and speculation is over and the fight is official, what does it actually mean for boxing and MMA as a whole?
Well for boxing, not so much. Floyd Mayweather has not competed in a boxing match for almost two years now and his last two fights have not been received well from the boxing world in terms of entertainment value. If he wins the fight, which is basically a guarantee, then the world of boxing will simply move on and Mayweather will retire with a professional record of 50-0 and his millions. The sport will not lure in new fans because he beat a man who has never boxed professionally before. If there was to be an effect on the overall sport of boxing from this fight, it could only be negative.
It could only be negative because the real super fight in boxing takes place in the same building three weeks later, Gennady Golovkin versus Canelo Alvarez. The attention that this fight is going to receive is going to take away business from that fight, which obviously for boxing is not good because that is a true world class fight featuring two outstanding boxers competing on the biggest stage. Other than that, boxing will move on and this fight will be remembered simply as a spectacle, not a competitive boxing match with meaning.
As for mixed martial arts, there also are more negatives than positives that come from this fight. Sure, if by some miracle McGregor beats Mayweather, MMA would reign supreme in the combat sports world because their golden boy took out the other golden boy in his backyard. The bragging rights will be nice for MMA fans, but the negative result of McGregor winning outweighs the positive. Here is why. First, if McGregor wins the chances of him ever competing in any fight ever again will be slim. He would never have to break a sweat again to make millions if he were to be the 1 in 49-1. He would be the king of the whatever he wants. So MMA most likely would lose their biggest star ever for good because he won a boxing match. Second, and this is already true, McGregor is electing to spend time training for a boxing match with no real purpose in terms of the purity of the sport rather than competing in the UFC defending his lightweight belt. His absence from the UFC has already been prevalent this year, just look at their pay per view sales. The UFC needs him back. Dana White did say that he is expected to compete in the UFC later this year.
As for the fighters themselves what do they have to gain (besides millions)or lose from this fight. McGregor really has nothing to lose at all. Mayweather on the other hand could lose his entire legacy, if he were to actually lose to McGregor fair and square (slim chance at best). If McGregor loses, so what? He is no boxer. He is fighting arguably the greatest of all time so there is no shame in losing. He will make his millions and return to the UFC as their biggest star anyway. Whatever pressure there is during this fight will be on Mayweather, because everybody expects him to win, and win easily.
Also, if McGregor wins then the world wins because it would be chaos upon chaos. The biggest upset in sports history and instantly the biggest event in sports history.
