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BBC Radio 5 boxing pundit is completely writing off McGregor.
Steve Bunce, BBC Radio 5 live boxing pundit
This will be an absolute mismatch. McGregor is a terrific mixed martial artist, a sensational grappler, sensational at all of these things in five-minute rounds - but what he's absolutely hopeless at - and every now and again we see glimpses of it - is boxing.
That's when you have two feet on the ground, one of your hands is up somewhere near your chin and you are using your other hand as a jab. When he boxes, when he tries to box, whether that's in a gymnasium or a little break in a mixed martial arts fight, he is hopeless.
Like I've been saying for a while:
I'm not saying he can do it, but nothing would please me more than seeing McGregor knock Mayweather the fuck out.
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Funnily enough my first reaction to the news was "I hope McGregor knocks him the fuck out" haha. It'll be tough for him, but it won't be as easy as people have been saying for Mayweather. He's used to going against boxers, and even though it will be a boxing match, he'll never have faced someone with McGregors style. He'll carry himself completely differently from how boxers do, shape up differently, etc. McGregor knows how to fight so it's not like they're throwing a complete noob in there with Mayweather.
Showtime has officially announced that Former New Japan Pro Wrestling and WWE Smackdown Live announcer Mauro Ranallo will be the lead play-by-play announcer for the August 26th Floyd Mayweather vs Conor McGregor fight.
Showtime officials told The Sporting News that the usual broadcasting team would handle calling the event, and it would also feature guest commentators, likely from UFC.
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Cool. Ranallo has recently signed a contract with Bellator MMA as well. No surprise that he's getting jobs because he's pretty good.
I was surprised to see that the statdium the event is being held in is quite small and there are hardly any tickets going on general sale.
The T-Mobile Arena holds 20,000 people, so the fighters will be performing live in front of less than a quarter of the 90,000 people who watched Anthony Joshua's thrilling win over Wladimir Klitschko in their world heavyweight title clash at Wembley Stadium in April.
However, the money will come not only from the live gate, but also through international television distribution, sponsorships, closed circuit and merchandise sales.
When Mayweather fought Filipino Manny Pacquiao in May 2015, the fight attracted a record of 4.4 million American pay-per-view sales, with the event generating more than $500m (£392.7m) in gross worldwide receipts.
Tickets will be in extremely short supply. Only 1,000 of 16,500 tickets were put on general sale for the Mayweather v Pacquiao fight at the MGM Grand - and some were then sold online for as much as £94,000. The rest of the tickets went to fighters, sponsors and promoters.
Hope McGregor wins and wins convincingly. It's quite funny at the moment, all these boxers are coming out saying that it won't even be a fight because Mayweather will just wipe the floor with him in the first round. Just makes me want to see McGregor win even more... that and because Mayweather is a cock.
Also, WWE want them on Raw according to Triple H.
WWE mentioning Conor McGregor multiple times on Raw this past week was not a coincidence. According to reports, the company would love to get McGregor and Floyd Mayweather on Raw to help them promote their fight.
WWE hopes that McGregor and Mayweather consider it as having a platform of millions of worldwide fans to sell their fight while WWE would benefit from the added free publicity and ratings boost on Raw.
Triple H was recently on Sky Sports News HQ in the UK and flat out invited both men to Raw to "tell the world who they are and why they're the man."
For those wondering exactly what Triple H had to say, here's a brief transcript:
“I think that is the – look I’ll go a step further and say all sports is entertainment, the news is entertainment today, it’s just the way of the world. This is what people do with their time. It’s no different. I think there is an interest level there. Can a world class boxer, probably the best ever, can he stand in the ring with an MMA guy and can that MMA guy bring his striking skills up to the level of someone, like say, a Floyd Mayweather? The one thing it will be, beyond a shadow of a doubt, is entertaining. One thing Floyd Mayweather is, is entertaining. One thing Conor McGregor is, is entertaining, and it’s funny that you say it’s sports entertainment. I’d invite both guys, that really want to showcase what they do, I invite both guys to come to Monday Night RAW because there is no bigger platform that they can have to show the world, and tell the world, who they are and why they’re the man.”
Yes! There's been back and forth between them for months. Dana White said he'd actually like to see it happen after all the trash talk and made it clear that he'd sanction McGregor to fight outside of the UFC without breaking his contract. Still months later Mayweather was saying he'd kick McGregors ass and they should make it happen, that he'd even come out of retirement for it. People thought that Mayweather was all talk though because Dana said it could happen, McGregor wanted it to happen and even got his boxing licence for it, and yet Mayweather wouldn't fully commit. Well it seems he has. And it's not too far away either. They probably had a lot to sort out that wasn't reported because the fight is set for the 26th August, so they had to have been properly working on this for a while to get that sealed in so fast. Although I imagine McGregors UFC contract might have had some influence in that as they can't put his UFC career on hold for this, especially when he's a current champion.
So the fight - the bout will be scheduled for 12 rounds at the junior middleweight limit of 154lbs with 10-ounce gloves. Right in Mayweathers favour, but I'm sure McGregor doesn't give a shit on little bit.
The fight will 100% be a boxing match, not an MMA fight. So McGregor will have to be careful not to use his natural fighting instincts from MMA, although it would be hilarious to see McGregor suddenly throw Mayweather to the floor and make him tap out like a little bitch.
Mayweather apparently did pull out of the fight, as the Nevada Athletic Commision confirmed that Mayweather initially pulled out of the request for a fight before reapplying. So maybe there was something in people calling him a pussy. Or he just didn't like people calling him a pussy 😄
Both guys will make tens of millions of dollars.
Boxing fans aren't happy because they think it will make, and already is, making boxing look like a circus.
Personally I can't wait. I want McGregor to win. Can't stand Mayweather. He was such a boring boxer and isn't as good as he made out as he spend most of his matches hugging the opponent to avoid being hit. I hope they avoid that in this fight. Just stand and throw punches. That's what I want to see.