by Wareez Odunayo

 

The controversial fight between the American “Money bag”, Floyd Mayweather and “Notorious”, Conor McGregor from Ireland will hold in less than 24 hours in Las Vegas and it has already dominated headlines. The UFC star, McGregor will complete a crossover into boxing to face the 49-0 undefeated Mayweather in a fight that is set to hold on 26 August at T-Mobile Arena, Las Vegas.

Mayweather has fought 49 boxing matches and won them all. McGregor has fought zero. At the bookies, so therefore, his winning are five to one and expectations are low.

It’s difficult to give UFC champion McGregor more than a distant puncher’s chance against Mayweather on Saturday, because Mayweather’s legendary career and firsthand mastery “hit and not get hit” is an advantage on his side.

Here are reasons why a McGregor victory against Mayweather may not be as crazy as you think:

Mayweather has never been more prime for the upset than right now
Mayweather’s history of taking off extended breaks only to return looking fresher than he had in years certainly cautions the notion that ring rust would ever be part of his vocabulary.

He’s also two years into an official retirement. Meanwhile McGregor is at the peak of his physical prime. And all the statistics and factoids people like UFC president Dana White have tried to use in recent months to hype up McGregor’s chances are all actually true: He’s a southpaw who is taller, stronger, naturally bigger and longer than Mayweather, and he’s also 11.5 years younger.

McGregor’s distance command is deadly and dangerous
Being a great boxer in MMA doesn’t translate perfectly to being a great boxer in the history. But there are certain things McGregor does very well from a boxing standpoint that has allowed him to dominate opponents on his feet inside the Octagon.

McGregor’s strongest skill has been his ability to negotiate distance by waving his opponents into a false sense of security before closing the gap quickly to land big punches. It’s a combination of strong footwork and precision punching that makes him so dangerous. McGregor has not only proven adept at landing combinations from distance, his uppercut has become a dangerous weapon.

McGregor’s wild unorthodox style will play into his hands.
Mayweather’s uncanny ability to take a snapshot of his opponent’s offensive attack in the opening rounds before making an adjustment is killing. But the defensive wizard has certainly had his easiest success against orthodox boxers who fight in a traditional style and stance.

What to know about the “The Money Fight”

Why so much noise about this fight?
The hype around this fight has been bonkers. The fighters are getting extremely personal at the press briefings, and for our viewing pleasure the insults will keep on coming.

How much money is on the line?
Looking at what Mayweather earned when he fought Manny Pacquiao in 2015, we get an idea of how much the fight purse is. TV revenue alone was said to have passed $400-million, with Mayweather walking away with a cool $180-million from that fight alone.

If the pay-per-view revenue follows the trend of the Mayweather–Pacquiao bout, the winner of The Money Fight could walk away with about $250-million.

How much are the tickets?
Ringside seats will set you back $10,000 a pop (about R131,000), while the “cheap seats” are going for $500 each. Other ticket prices range from $1,500 to $7,500. And if you don’t have several grand to spend on tickets, pay-per-view will cost $99.95 for high definition in the US.