Floyd “Money” Mayweather retired with a fantastic win over “The Notorious” Conor McGregor in front of 14,623 raucous fans at the T-Mobile Arena. The bout fulfilled his promise to finish McGregor and provide retribution for the Manny Pacquiao fight which many fans felt was an absolute let down.
The fight finishes the Mayweather era with a stoppage in the 10th round after referee Robert Byrd felt that McGregor couldn’t take anymore. McGregor performed better than most thought he would, actually landing uppercuts and short punches on Mayweather and taking the fight into the 10th round. But in the end, Mayweather walked McGregor down like a hunter patiently stalking his prey, waiting for the right opportunity to land the killing shot.
“I think we gave the fans what they wanted to see,” said Mayweather in the post-fight interview. “I owed them for the Pacquiao fight. I had to come straight ahead and give the fans a show. That’s what I gave them.”
Mayweather owned the power punching game, landing most of the significant shots between the 7th through 9th rounds, which is when the tide began to shift in his favor. McGregor tired from Mayweather’s relentless pursuit and became more susceptible to the punishment “Money” unleashed.
“I thought it was close though and I thought it was a bit of an early stoppage,” said McGregor. “I was just a little fatigued. He was just a lot more composed with his shots. I have to give it to him, that’s what 50 pro fights will do for you.”
McGregor demonstrated extreme courage in the face of a brilliance, successfully using his reach and switching his stances, hitting Mayweather from awkward angles. However, like in his UFC fights, the gas tank was depleted after the 8th round, which was equivalent to a 5-round fight in MMA (25 minutes). This eventually gave Mayweather the advantage he had planned from the start, letting McGregor wear himself out and finish the fight in the later rounds when the UFC star would be too gassed to continue his attack.
“Our game plan was to take our time, go to him, let him shoot his shots early and then take him out down the stretch. We know in MMA he fights for 25 minutes. After 25 minutes, he started to slow down. I guaranteed to everybody that this wouldn’t go the distance.”
Mayweather landed 152 of 261 thrown power punches to McGregor’s 84 landed out of 332. Mayweather landed 170 out of 320 total punches landed to McGregor’s 111 landed out of 430 total thrown.
The fight caps an illustrious career that saw Mayweather dominate in five weight classes. He will go down in history as one of the best boxers ever, and definitely one of, if not the best, defensive fighter in the history of the sport. He recognized his potential early on, purchased his athletic freedom from Bob Arum and Top Rank and eventually became the best boxer-businessman that has ever lived. His marketing acumen is second-to-none as he transformed himself from “Pretty Boy Floyd” to “Money Mayweather” and became the global sports world’s highest paid athlete.
Mayweather retired after his 2015 fights with Manny Pacquiao and Andre Berto, vowing never to return to the squared circle. After the fans clamored to discover who would win a match between MMA’s pound-for-pound king versus boxing’s undefeated defensive maestro, he returned to answer the question.
“This was my last fight tonight,” said Mayweather. “For sure. Tonight was my last fight. Tonight I chose the right dance partner to dance with. Conor you are a hell of a champion.”
@floydmayweather has called it a career at 50-0 #mayweathervsmcgregor #boxing
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On August 26th after much fanfare, a world wind global press tour, and extreme scrutiny of his age and ability, Floyd Mayweather proved that age is just a state of mind and he is as sharp as ever and the world will miss the self-proclaimed “TBE”.
