There can be no doubting the attraction of the Floyd Mayweather fight against Conor McGregor. Boxing’s most enigmatic and flamboyant star of a generation pitted against the biggest mouth in MMA.
But such a fight has the potential to set a dangerous precedent. Where will this end? What will be next? Will we descend into some global version of ‘Superstars’ where athletes of all types of combat sports come together and take each other on in a variety of disciplines in some pay per view extravaganza?
Of course, that won’t happen, but behind the showmanship and carnival atmosphere surrounding such a fight there are some very sobering realities.
Mayweather is not stupid. He has calculated every single opponent he has ever faced to perfection and he is certainly not going to risk his perfect record in his 50th fight.
As age catches up with Mayweather he has learned when to fight an opponent, particularly in his last eight or nine fights. He delayed the Pacquaio fight as long as he could to excellent effect, stalling over contract negotiations, demanding drug tests and ultimately waiting till Manny had a few more tough bouts under his belt, lost a couple, and was a few years older.
McGregor, by contrast, is an excellent MMA fighter but that will not help him in a boxing ring. Many think he is not even the best boxer in his Dublin postcode, never mind good enough to get in a ring with arguably the greatest pound for pound boxer in history.
In truth, McGregor is a woeful boxer. His attempts at switching stance are clumsy and he is technically poor. Even if he brings in some top sparring partners, learns to keep his chin tucked in, boxes clever, there is still no chance of matching Mayweather.
While Mayweather and McGregor both respect each other, and secretly even like each other, do not be fooled into thinking that Floyd will not be ready for him. Nobody gets to the top of the tree in boxing by being a soft touch.
During his infamous fight with Ricky Hatton, Mayweather toyed with the Hitman for a long time, punishing him with endless jabs, knowing he was too quick to be caught.
And during a fight in 2011 with Victor Ortiz, he showed his nasty side. In Round four Ortiz butted Mayweather, lost a point, and extended his hand to touch gloves. Mayweather blanked this show of sportsmanship, connected twice and knocked Ortiz out. He is not be messed with.
There is the potential for McGregor to also try some underhand tactics to try and bridge the gap and this would certainly rile Mayweather; the result could be very dangerous. A lot has been made in recent years of the safety record of boxing and despite McGregor proving he can more than take a punch (among other things) the potential for serious damage to be inflicted upon him is very real.
Of course, as a spectacle, it will be phenomenal. The build-up will be immense with the greatest trash-talking ever seen, but trust me – that will be the best bit. When the first bell sounds there will only be one outcome.
