Saturday night’s premier event treated boxing fans, MMA fans and casual observers to one of the most entertaining sporting events in recent memory. Conor McGregor, a professional Mixed Martial Arts fighter, stepped into the boxing ring for the first time as a professional to take on the boxer of a generation, Floyd Mayweather. McGregor wasn’t given a chance in the leadup to the fight, as he opened with +950 odds as a significant underdog. Experts dismissed McGregor’s credibility, calling the event a publicity stunt that would be a smudge on boxing history. That didn’t stop a contingency of McGregor supporters from putting their money on their MMA hero; by fight day, his odds improved to +300.

There were questions about Mayweather Jr. also. Like, how would he respond after being retired from active boxing for two years? Or how would the 40-year-old veteran fair against a 29-year-old fighter at the peak of his career? Come fight time, there were many shades of doubt cast upon Mayweather’s chances, and it caused his odds to tumble to -350.

 

Defence Wins Championships

Despite the speculation, Mayweather had a plan and executed it to perfection. Even casual fight fans knew that McGregor’s only opportunity for a victory was to catch Mayweather off guard early in the match and knock him out. As a result, Money played defence for the first three rounds, blocking a flurry of aggressive strikes from the Irishman. McGregor used strategies such as switching from southpaw to orthodox in an effort to find a hole in Mayweather’s armour, but Mayweather adapted. The career undefeated boxer’s defence was all the hype said it would be.

By the fifth round, McGregor was noticeably beginning to fatigue, and Mayweather stepped up his offense by pressing McGregor and unleashing combinations of hooks and jabs that caught the better of McGregor.

It was the 10th round that saw McGregor, who by this point resembled a defenseless heavy bag, receive several blows that resulted in referee Robert Byrd stopping the match and declaring Floyd Mayweather Jr. as the winner by TKO. With the victory, Mayweather became the winningest undefeated boxer of all time, surpassing the legendary Rocky Marciano.

This fight will go down as both a media showcase as well as a surprisingly competitive boxing match. Although the outcome went down as expected, with a Mayweather victory, no one can suggest that McGregor was dominated in the fight.

 

*Odds as of August 29, 2017