Whatever you call it, sport or spectacle, the boxing match between sweet science savant Floyd Mayweather Jr. and UFC superstar Conor McGregor became the most-talked about sporting event of the 21st century.
The mere thought of the greatest boxer of his era taking on the current king of mixed martial arts was outlandish and unrealistic…until it wasn’t. It was made official on June 14 and after a couple months of fiery hot takes, hyperbole and an international press tour, fight night finally arrived.
The consensus prediction was Mayweather would either win via dominant decision or stop McGregor late (even though fools like me thought McGregor was actually going to pull off the improbable).
McGregor started strong and put forth a more-than-respectable showing before Mayweather took over and earned that late stoppage many foresaw.
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The event took place at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. Below you’ll find round-by-round coverage of the main event, plus updates from earlier in the night.
Round 1: McGregor, sporting a freshly shaved head, sprints to the centre of the ring and pressures Mayweather against the ropes as Floyd stays patient.
McGregor lands a solid counter uppercut and dodges a body shot before putting his hands behind his backs to taunt his opponent.
Mayweather only threw five punches the entire round.
MJ: 10-9 McGregor
Round 2: Floyd is not moving his feet very much as he diagnoses McGregor’s range and timing. Mayweather has yet to find a home for his straight right hand while McGregor has shown an impressive ability to dodge the attacks from Mayweather which have been few and far between. McGregor’s being physical in the clinch and using his right arm to tie up Floyd.
MJ: 10-9 McGregor
Round 3: McGregor is being warned repeatedly for hitting the back of Mayweather’s head when they clinch. If he keeps doing this he will have a point taken away. McGregor flicked out his jab effectively which might have been enough to win him the round since Mayweather isn’t landing any impactful shots.
MJ: 10-9 McGregor
Round 4: Mayweather eats a stiff left from McGregor but he’s finally being more aggressive and landing with authority. Mayweather has been smiling pretty much the entire time. This was his best round.
MJ: 10-9 Mayweather
Round 5: McGregor is the much bigger athlete and Mayweather seems to be having difficulty with the awkward angles Conor presents. Mayweather is walking McGregor down and the crowd boos every time there is a clinch. Mayweather found a home for his left hook in this round and McGregor is breathing heavier.
MJ: 10-9 Mayweather
Round 6: Mayweather is repeatedly turning his back to McGregor when they clinch. It’s bizarre. “Money” definitely doesn’t look like his usual self but he isn’t phased in the slightest. Mayweather targets the body with straight rights and a handful of crisp shots to the head.
MJ: 10-9 Mayweather
Round 7: Most of the punches McGregor is landing are arm punches and Mayweather can take these all night. McGregor is handling himself well. He certainly doesn’t look like a debutant although Mayweather is being more precise and landing the more stinging shots.
MJ: 10-9 Mayweather
Round 8: The pair have decided to trade combinations but it’s clear at this point McGregor doesn’t have the same zip on his punches that he did earlier. Mayweather does.
McGregor was busier. Mayweather was more accurate. Close round.
MJ: 10-9 Mayweather
Round 9: McGregor starts strong, hurting Floyd with a body shot. After that Mayweather completely takes over landing power shot after power shot. McGregor’s legs are gone and based on how many punches he ate it was a victory that he didn’t go down.
MJ: 10-9 Mayweather
Round 10: Mayweather stops McGregor with a flurry early in the 10th. According to the broadcast, Mayweather landed 20 of 25 power shots before referee Robert Byrd called a stop to the fight 1:05 into the round.
McGregor showed his heart and never went down but this was a good stoppage.
“He was a lot tougher than I thought,” Mayweather said post-fight.
Earlier in the night…
Main event was delayed ‘slightly’
It happened when Mayweather fought Manny Pacquiao in 2015 and it’s happening again.
According to multiple reports, since there are so many people trying to watch the fight, there are bandwidth issues and various PPV outages. This will result in a delayed start time.
Earlier today it was announced that the earliest possible start time for the main event would’ve been 11:15 p.m. ET. That has long passed.
It’s unclear at this time exactly when the main event will begin.
“Due to high demand, we have reports of scattered outages from various cable and satellite providers and the online offering,” a Showtime statement read. “We will delay the start of the main event slightly to allow for systems to get on track. We do not expect a lengthy delay.”
Anthem singers are ready
As is customary at boxing events, the national anthems for the countries of both fighters will be sung. Popstar and noted fight fan Demi Lovato will perform the Star-Spangled Banner, while Imelda May is tasked with singing Ireland’s anthem Amhrán na bhFiann.
Both men arrived looking ready for business
There is also some royalty in the building. “King James” is one of many celebrities in attendance.
UFC having issues with its PPV servers
Fans had the option to order the pay-per-view on the UFC Fight Pass website, however by the time the main card began the UFC’s servers were feeling the heat.
Suffice it to say, fans are not happy about this.
https://twitter.com/ashlieclerk/status/901614999713525762
https://twitter.com/BigDJeff_23/status/901618375281045504
McGregor, Mayweather pen letters to their fans
Both main event competitors wanted to send a message to their respective supporters prior to the fight and they did so with letters.
Here is McGregor’s:
Mayweather came out of retirement to take this fight and the 49-0 fighter is on record saying this will be his final contest.
“One last note to my fans, thank you for being in my corner for my 49 previous victorious fights,” Mayweather wrote. “There’s so much support and I am simply overwhelmed with gratitude to have given you 20-plus years of me. I will leave this stage knowing I did this for you and my family.”
Here are the complete results from the event:
MAIN EVENT
— Floyd Mayweather def. Conor McGregor by TKO at 1:05 of Round 10
UNDERCARD
— Gervonta Davis def. Francisco Fonseca by KO at 0:39 of Round 8
— Badou Jack def. Nathan Cleverly by TKO at 2:47 of Round 5
— Andrew Tabiti def. Steve Cunningham by unanimous decision (97-93, 97-93, 100-90)
PRELIMINARY CARD
— Yordenis Ugas def. Thomas Dulorme by unanimous decision (94-91, 93-92, 93-92)
— Juan Heraldez def. Jose Miguel Borrego by unanimous decision (96-93, 97-92, 97-92)
— Antonio Hernandez def. Kevin Newman by unanimous decision (57-56, 59-54, 59-54)
— Savannah Marshall def. Sydney LeBlanc by unanimous decision (40-36, 40-36, 40-36)
