Re-visiting the Mayweather-McGregor Hoax One Year Later

This Sunday, August 26, marks the first anniversary of the Mayweather-McGregor fight. The bout at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas drew an announced crowd of 14,623 (13,094 paid), well below capacity, but with tickets priced so steep, the live gate was enormous. The tally, $55,416,866, stands as the second highest in the annals of boxing, surpassed only by the 2015 match between Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao. Pay-per-view sales worldwide, reportedly 4.3 million, were likewise second only to Mayweather-Pacquiao which registered 4.6.

When the fight was announced, many were quick to denounce it as a sham. The very idea that an MMA fighter with no professional boxing experience could overcome a man hailed in many quarters as the best boxer of his generation was absurd on the face of it. The noted journalist Charles P. Pierce called the promotion a “glorified cholera outbreak” and a “festival of fools.” Pierce was alluding not just to the fight that would transpire, but to the war of words leading up to it, a shameless pageant of f-bombs that played out before large gatherings on a promotional tour of four cities: Brooklyn, Toronto, Los Angeles, and London.

The fight, which was waived off in the 10^th frame with McGregor on his feet but taking a beating, remains controversial after the fact. The lingering question is whether Mayweather “carried” McGregor to give those that bought into the fight more bang for their buck.

Dishonest fights come in many hues. At one end of the spectrum we have the kind favored by Hollywood filmmakers wherein a boxer is browbeat into taking a dive so that his manager or another party can effectuate a betting coup. I’ve not sniffed out even one example of this in all the years that I’ve been covering the sport. At the other end we have the example of an “opponent” tailoring his performance to the role in which he was cast. A common rendering sees the designated loser retiring on his stool after a few rounds while complaining of an injury.

Carrying an opponent, which became more prevalent with the advent of TV (advertisers don’t like short fights), fits at neither pole. In the eyes of many immersed in boxing, there’s nothing dishonest about it. In the end, the better man wins so what’s the big deal?

Many observers, this reporter included, thought McGregor won the first three rounds. He was clearly the busier man. But this wasn’t out of character for Mayweather, historically a slow starter. He likes to process his opponent – “gathering data” in the words of Frank Lotierzo — before firming up his own battle plan. Moreover, Floyd, although approaching 41, had every reason to think that he would be better conditioned and thereby less vulnerable as the bout wended into the later rounds. MMA fighters train differently than boxers. An MMA title fight that goes the distance consumes only 25 minutes of actual combat (five 5-minute rounds), 11 fewer minutes than a 12-round boxing match. So if Floyd lollygagged through the first few rounds, it wasn’t for the purpose of carrying McGregor. Floyd was just being Floyd and, one might add, he was just being smart.

In his post-fight article, Lotierzo made note of these factors while rejecting the notion that Mayweather carried McGregor. In the early rounds, said Lotierzo, Mayweather was troubled by McGregor’s size and physicality and his awkwardness – “unorthodox slaps and quick flurries” – and this caused Floyd “to step back and fight a little more judiciously.”

This opinion isn’t shared by Hall of Fame boxing broadcaster Jim Lampley. Two months after the fight, Lampley was cornered in a parking garage by a roving reporter for the gossip site TMZ. In the video that ensued, which drew a lot of hits, Lampley said that it was obvious to him that Mayweather tanked the first three rounds. “It was all a set-up,” he said.

Let’s ask Floyd to weigh-in. In a post-fight interview, Floyd said, “He’s a lot better than I thought he was. He used different angles…He was a tough competitor…I chose a hell of a dance partner to dance with. Conor McGregor, you are a great champion.” But then, in a video posted on fighthype.com on Dec. 4 of last year, Mayweather changed his tune. “You know I carried McGregor,” he said. “I made it look good for y’all.”

So who’s telling the truth, Mayweather or Mayweather? (We’re reminded of the famous line that Bob Arum uttered in an informal bull session with a small group of reporters in 1981 — “Yesterday I was lying; today I’m telling the truth” – an utterance that for some is the perfect catchphrase for the Machiavellian world of professional boxing.)

I was at the fight, free from the noise of the TV commentators who were duty-bound to pump up McGregor to assure the folks watching on pay-per-view ($99.95 for high definition and $89.95 for the regular transmission) that they hadn’t been suckered into buying a lemon. But I wasn’t seated where my view of the action was as good as those watching at home. I have read where McGregor nailed Mayweather with a harsh uppercut in the opening round. Somehow I missed it. However, while I wasn’t able to give the “carrying hypothesis” a good eye test, I will always believe that there was a gentleman’s agreement in place that Mayweather wouldn’t embarrass McGregor and that this was the primary factor that determined the flow of the early rounds.

I say this for two reasons. At a pre-fight media confab at the Mayweather Gym, Floyd was asked if he would carry McGregor if he figured out early on that the Irishman wasn’t in his league. Mayweather artfully dodged the question and the confab was terminated before I had the chance to re-introduce it. And then there was the way that the two embraced when the fight was finished. It struck me that there was something fishy about it.

Yes, we knew that the fight would end in a display of good sportsmanship. We knew that all the acrimony that poured forth on the four-city promotional tour was just posturing. But as the two embraced like long lost friends, one discerned in McGregor’s body language elements of relief and jubilation. It was as if we were watching two guys who went halfsies on the Pick Six at Santa Anita with a big carryover pool and just realized that they held the only winning ticket.

McGregor had plenty to say to Mayweather as they snuggled post-fight but his words were inaudible in the din. I’m guessing he said something along these lines: “Well, we pulled it off, didn’t we? And all the bastards that said it was going to be a farce can eat crow because we put on a good show.”

Indeed, they could not have pulled it off any better than if it had been choreographed. CBS Sports correspondent Brian Campbell came away with this take: “(McGregor was) incredibly game. What he did was present Mayweather with a poised and credible challenge, teasing a bright future in the boxing game should he consider it.”

Showtime will replay the fight on Sunday in celebration of the one-year anniversary. Truth be told, I wasn’t really that interested in seeing the fight live, but I’m very interested in seeing the replay.

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