Getty
The anticipated battle between Conor McGregor and Floyd Mayweather went mostly as expected on Saturday night, as “Money” moved to 50-0 with a 10th-round stoppage.
Before we get to the full highlights of the entertaining fight, here’s a look at the final moments:
But it wasn’t always so simply for Floyd. McGregor came out aggressive in the first round and landed a couple good shots, while Mayweather mostly sat back:
Most agreed that the next two rounds also went to McGregor, who continued to be more active and land more punches, though it wasn’t always in the most conventional way:
As Conor began to tire over the next couple of rounds, though, Mayweather was able to take advantage, landing his shots at a much more efficient rate:
By the time the seventh round rolled around, it was all Mayweather, who was starting to find more open spots and connect on a number of good flurries, while McGregor was showing serious signs of fatigue:
McGregor continued to give everything he had, but there wasn’t much left in the tank, as Mayweather landed big shot after big shot in the ninth:
After more of the same in the first minute of the 10th, the referee was forced to call a stop to it. Following the battle, they showed plenty of respect towards one another:
McGregor and Mayweather embrace at the end
“I thought it was close. He’s very composed. Fair play to @FloydMayweather.” #ConorMcGregor @TheNotoriousMMA #MayweatherMcGregor
In terms of what’s next, we’ve seen Mayweather “retire” before only to return to the ring, but this is almost assuredly the end of his legendary career.
“I gave my word already,” said Mayweather of retirement. “Once I gave my word to my children, it’s the end. It came to an end. This is a great event. What better way to go out than with a bang?”
Floyd Mayweather: “This was my last fight, ladies and gentlemen.”
Leonard Ellerbe, the chief executive of Mayweather Promotions, confirmed that notion, alluding to Floyd’s bank account as a main reason:
He’s going to finally, finally, have a chance to put his illustrious boxing career behind him and move on to the next phase of his life and business. He has a tremendous portfolio to manage, with hundreds of millions in dollars in real estate. He has invested in hotels. He has his hands in a lot of different things.
Not only is 50 wins a nice, round number, but Mayweather surpasses Rocky Marciano’s famous undefeated record of 49-0. Throw in the potential $300 million payday from Saturday night’s win, and it makes perfect sense for the 40-year-old to hang up his gloves.
As for McGregor, there are plenty of options.
If he returns to UFC, it would make sense for the lightweight champ to face the winner of Tony Ferguson and Kevin Lee, who will fight for the interim lightweight title at UFC 216. However, according to UFC president Dana White, McGregor has a desire to face the undefeated Khabib Nurmagomedov.
“Conor told me he wanted to go fight Khabib (Nurmagomedov) in Russia,” said White. “Khabib’s not healthy. If Khabib gets healthy again, we’ll start talking about what’s next for Khabib.”
Victory for all. Floyd gets 50. Conor came to fight, held his own. Entertaining scrap. &, most important, I suspect UFC gets its star back.
A return to the boxing ring would bring McGregor another massive payday, and he certainly proved Saturday night that he’s better in the ring than most were expecting. And considering the 29-year-old Irishman’s ability to sell a fight, there certainly wouldn’t be a shortage of opponents who would like to step up.
Then again, “Notorious” is also the guy who once Tweeted this:
Get in. Get rich. Get out.
He’s already accomplished the first two. It’ll be interesting to see if the third is next, or if McGregor still has the itch to return to either the Octagon or the ring.