Boxing
TV Watch Conor McGregor and Floyd Mayweather Jr. Live Fight Online HBO. Conor
McGregor vs Floyd Mayweather Jr. Agree to Fight, 26 aug 2017.
Two years after Conor McGregor declared in an Esquire
interview that he would “kill” the boxer Floyd Mayweather Jr. in
“less than 30 seconds,” it appears that McGregor, a mixed martial arts star,
will get his chance. The two fighters announced their long-awaited fight on
social media on Wednesday, with Mayweather posting a promotional video for the
bout on Instagram along
with the caption “IT’S OFFICIAL!!!” and McGregor writing on Twitter, “THE FIGHT
IS ON.”
McGregor, the Ultimate Fighting Championship
lightweight champion, agreed
to the fight last month, but negotiations over Mayweather’s terms had been considered
more difficult.
Their pay-per-view fight is expected to generate huge
amounts of money. The chief executive of Mayweather Promotions, Leonard
Ellerbe, was asked Wednesday night if the fight could gross half a billion
dollars. “Yes, of course, why not?” Ellerbe responded. “It’s a very, very hot
fight, and a fight that the fans want.”
Mayweather’s 2015 fight against Manny Pacquiao cost
between $90 and $100 to watch on pay-per-view and drew
an estimated 4.4 million viewers. Over all, it generated close to $600
million in revenue, according to ESPN.
“We have actually tapped into the audience that
doesn’t really follow either sport,” said Stephen Espinoza, the executive vice
president of Showtime Sports. “All of a sudden people who have never really
been interested in M.M.A. or boxing are interested in this due to the nature of
the competition.”
Earlier Wednesday, the Nevada State Athletic
Commission approved
a request by Mayweather Promotions to hold a boxing event in Las Vegas on Aug.
26. The request was for an event to be broadcast on Showtime, which had an
exclusive agreement with Mayweather.
U.F.C. President Dana White told ESPN on Wednesday
that the fight would be held at T-Mobile Arena. The fight will be at 154
pounds, for 12 rounds, with the fighters wearing 10-ounce gloves.
Mayweather, who has won multiple belts as a boxer and
is 49-0, has not fought since September 2015. After winning that fight, against
Andre Berto, he announced his retirement for a second time.
In March,
Mayweather announced that he was coming out of retirement specifically to fight
McGregor.
McGregor is the most accomplished and charismatic star
on U.F.C.’s roster, holding a career record of 21-3. His last fight was a
second-round technical knockout against Eddie Alvarez at U.F.C. 205 in
November, which added the lightweight title to the featherweight belt he
already possessed.
Mayweather figures to have a
significant advantage because the fight will be a straight boxing match,
although McGregor was a youth boxing champion and boxing is considered his best
skill.
“This is the unknown factor,” Ellerbe said, adding
that he was “impressed” with McGregor’s stand-up game.
Most observers are less impressed and do not expect
the fight to be competitive: Mayweather was listed as a -1100 favorite at the
Westgate Las Vegas SuperBook, meaning bettors would have to risk $1,100 on
Mayweather to win just $100. News Source
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