Recently, rumors of a potential superfight between Floyd “Money” Mayweather Jr. and Conor “The Notorious” McGregor have filled the hearts of both boxing and mixed-martial-arts enthusiasts with joy and excitement. Not only would it be the first serious fight between a boxer and a mixed martial artist since former three-weight International Boxing Federation (IBF) champion James Toney fought two-weight Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) champion Randy Couture, but the amount of interest that would be generated by these two fighters would eclipse that of any former combat sports event.
Mayweather is widely recognized as the pound-for-pound king of boxing today and has beaten the best of the best while remaining undefeated as a professional, holding an astounding record of 49-0. He is tied with Rocky Marciano when it comes to most consecutive victories (Ricardo Lopez retired with a record of 51-0, but he did draw with Rosendo Alvarez in their first fight in 1998). In the past five years alone, he has beaten “Sugar” Shane Mosley, Victor Ortiz, Saul “Canelo” Alvarez, Marcos Maidana, Miguel Cotto, and Manny Pacquiao, all current or former world champions. Although Mayweather is often criticized for his evasive and defensive style (or as some describe it, hugging and running), experts can recognize the true complexity and intelligence of Mayweather’s boxing, which uses excellent footwork and head movement to avoid damage while still landing his own punches. However, this style does have its downsides, resulting in one knockout in seven years (over Victor Ortiz in the fourth round). Despite complaints that his style is “boring,” Mayweather is the biggest pay-per-view star of all time, amassing an incredible 19.5 million total buys throughout his career, with 4.4 million of them coming from his “Fight of the Century” with Manny Pacquiao last May that generated $1.3 billion in pay-per-view revenue. What Mayweather lacks in knockout power or ability to brawl he makes up for with dominance. He has neither the charisma nor audacious personality of Muhammad Ali, nor the explosive, fearsome, knockout power and ridiculous speed of Mike Tyson, but he is practically untouchable in the ring. His ability to slip punches and cut angles makes even his most challenging opponents seem like amateurs. Even in his closest fights, Mayweather often takes little damage and usually walks away looking just as pretty as he came in.
Conor McGregor’s style is wildly different than Mayweather’s. McGregor is known for his brashness inside and outside the octagon. Although his debut in the UFC was just three years ago, he has quickly become an international sports sensation and the UFC’s biggest star, surpassing the likes of Georges St. Pierre and Ronda Rousey. How did he get there? By talking lots of trash. Here are some of his most interesting quotes:
“He’s a quiet, little hillbilly from the back arse of nowhere. His cousin is probably named
Cletus.”
“Dustin’s little pea head is going to get removed.”
—Referring to Dustin Poirier, a native of rural Louisiana, prior to their fight at UFC 178
“My thoughts on Dennis Siver is he’s a midget, German, steroid-head.”
—Referring to Dennis Siver, a German fighter who had been suspended for use of human growth hormone, prior to their fight at UFC Fight Night: McGregor vs. Siver
“It turned out he just had a little period pain.”
—Referring to Jose Aldo’s decision to remain on the UFC 189 card despite a rib injury
Perhaps McGregor’s most intriguing quality is that he supports his claims outside the octagon by fighting with the same bold style. After taking verbal shots at Dustin Poirier, McGregor scored a TKO just shy of two minutes in. During the fight, he shook his head after every one of Poirier’s strikes. Dennis Siver met a similar fate when he was TKO’d two minutes into the second round as well. Jose Aldo, who was undefeated for 10 years, was knocked out with one punch in just 13 seconds. McGregor’s cheeky audacity has enabled him to generate massive amounts of hype for each of his fights, with his last two fights generating over one million pay-per-view buys, shattering former gate records.
So what would a fight between these two be like? Well, it would most likely break every record there is to break. A fight between these two would capture the attention of boxing and MMA fans around the world. With Floyd Mayweather’s reputation and Conor McGregor’s ability to generate interest for every one of his fights, the pay-per-view sales would most likely surpass the current 4.4 million record held by Pacquiao vs. Mayweather and would have no problem selling out a massive arena such as the new T-Mobile arena in Las Vegas.
Additionally, and perhaps most importantly, the fight would rekindle the conflict between MMA and boxing. The last fight between a boxer and an MMA fighter was James Toney’s fight with Randy Couture in 2010, which lasted just a minute before Randy Couture, an accomplished Olympic wrestler, landed a takedown on Toney and promptly submitted him with an arm-triangle choke.
Floyd Mayweather will not have to worry about this, as McGregor is not known for his wrestling in the slightest. The only takedown he has attempted in the UFC was in March during his fight with Nate Diaz. It was easily stuffed and McGregor was submitted by rear-naked choke shortly after, so it is apparent that wrestling is not one of his strengths. On the other hand, he is one of the best strikers in the UFC, utilizing his long reach and hard-hitting left cross to achieve knockouts in all but two of his wins. This is what makes this matchup interesting. McGregor has never had to deal with anyone whose boxing even comes close to Mayweather’s, and the latter has never dealt with wheel kicks or roundhouse kicks being thrown at his body and head. Although the talks of a fight between these two will most likely remain a rumor rather than become reality, the idea of such a fight ever taking place could potentially shine some mainstream light on two great sports and make for a thrilling matchup.