Conor McGregor Vs Floyd Mayweather, JR: The Potential Winners and Losers

The fight that was never going to happen became the fight that couldn’t not happen. The fight that no one wanted to see has transformed into the one that they can’t possibly miss – even if they don’t like admitting it. Whatever your thoughts, the so called “fight of the century” is taking place on the 26th of August in Vegas.

Putting aside the circus of the world tour of press conferences, the hype, the trash talking and the myriad of opinions coming from inside and outside both sports, let’s look at the potential winners and losers when everyone wakes up on the morning of the 27th August.

We’ll start with Mayweather, who on the face of it has the most to lose. It is hard to talk about Mayweather without using or hearing the word “legacy”, and that is the real danger facing the 40-year-old. In one fell swoop, the tag of the “best fighter ever to pull on a pair of gloves” could be ripped from him, in what is essentially a show fight. 49-and-0 is a million miles away from 49 and 1. If the unthinkable happens, where does he go from there? A rematch? Whatever he does, it is likely that this will be the way he is remembered, at least in the short term, which will be a huge shame. Whatever else he is (or was), Mayweather is a remarkable boxer with a record that may never be repeated. For that to be destroyed simply for another $100 million would perhaps be fitting, but would certainly be disappointing. It is also hard to think what he will gain (apart from financially, of course). There has always been the accusation (unfair, for the most part) that he has fought people at times and on terms that have suited him, but surely that is the right of a champion, and looking at the list of people he has defeated shows that he has not ducked anyone. Maybe he just wants to be in the spotlight one more time?

We now move onto McGregor, who on the surface has the most to gain and the least to lose. No one in either the UFC or boxing worlds gives the Irishman much of a chance. The closeness of the odds suggest something else, but that is more than likely down to the conservative nature of the bookmakers and the money put down by the legion of McGregor fans. Everyone who steps into a boxing ring has a puncher’s chance. That is what makes it such an incredible sport, and that is also exactly what McGregor is, a puncher. If he does land, even if he doesn’t win, he will still have done something that so many experts claim to be impossible. On the other hand, if he gets a schooling, then has he done any worse than so many others with significantly better pedigrees?

As a sport, the boxing world is perhaps the most worried. Right or wrong, there is a certain snobbery in boxing circles about MMA. If the fighter widely regarded as one of the most skilled in the art of boxing doesn’t just win, but win convincingly, against a mouthy brawler who hasn’t boxed a professional round of boxing in his life, it could be a defining moment in the sport’s history. But maybe that won’t be a bad thing. In the States, boxing pay-per-view figures are routinely blown out of the water by the UFC. Maybe it is boxing that needs this fight more than MMA, rather than the other way around, and people are just too ashamed to admit it?
Finally, we come to MMA. In America, South America and parts of Europe, the sport has equal footing with boxing. This is certainly not the case for the UK and many other parts of the world. This fight is putting it into the spotlight in a way that would have taken it years to achieve organically. In that way, the result is irrelevant. McGregor entering the fight being able to use only one of his usual “tools” means that should he get beaten, even beaten badly, the arguments made by UFC fans have already been written.

Whatever happens, it is likely that both sports will never view the other in the same light again, and that, in itself, is surely a positive.