On Aug. 26, Conor McGregor — winless in the boxing ring, covered in tattoos that would make the most progressive of human resource managers squirm, and standing in an unconventional karate stance — is going to approach the undefeated Floyd Mayweather with every intention of knocking him out cold.
The boxing purists will be doing something else — possibly dusting off their old “50 Legendary Stars of Sports: Boxing” VHS tapes while simultaneously avoiding the itch to shell out $99 for a bout that seems to have all the makings of a freak show contest.
But if the purists can figure out how to order the pay-per-view without having to text their MMA-enthusiast sons or daughters on their Jitterbug phones, they’ll see that Saturday’s fight can be just as competitive (if not more competitive) as the 49 other professional boxing matches Mayweather has won.
The odds of McGregor winning his first boxing match are about one in 1,000, but the same was true for the 49 others who have lost at the hands of Mayweather. No one — Manny Pacquiao, Andre Berto and Canelo Alvarez included — has been able to touch Mayweather, quite literally.
Mayweather is the best defensive boxer to ever step into the ring. He makes seasoned professionals — world champions, at that — look like amateurs. While other fighters end their careers on devastating notes, usually drooling somewhere on a family sofa as their significant other combs through old photo albums, Mayweather will come out of the boxing game relatively unscathed — swimming in golden coins with minimal brain trauma.
Mayweather should expect an easy fight. He should expect to waltz into the ring and avoid punches for 12 rounds, because he’s beaten the best the game’s had to offer. After all, McGregor — a cage fighter — has never fought another professional boxer, so beating the best to ever do it appears impossible.
The difference is Mayweather isn’t fighting another boxer — someone who’s practiced hitting mitts the same way as Mayweather since he was in grade school. Instead, he’ll be across from a fighter — a versatile tactician who’s the only person Mayweather has fought capable of dismantling him in a true fight, giving him a significant mental edge.
Unlike Mayweather, McGregor didn’t sign up for the fight to raise his bank account balance, although he won’t have a problem flaunting his beaming whites and gold chains. Having grown up in the inner-city streets of Dublin, Ireland, dependent on the government for food, McGregor isn’t removed from his roots. He’s visualized his success, even while fixing sinks as a plumber overseas.
When it came time to fight Jose Aldo — a UFC champion who hadn’t lost in over a decade — McGregor predicted a knockout in less than a minute. Pundits and fans thought he was a madman, but shortly after the bell rang, McGregor flattened Aldo with his patented left hand, sending his career into a dizzying upswing.
Whether he's fighting on an undercard for a couple thousand dollars or for a $100 million purse, McGregor’s mindset remains the same: start with visualizing the result and work your butt off until it comes to fruition.
McGregor, training in front of a giant mural depicting him landing the left hand flush on Mayweather’s untouched face, has visualized the finish for Saturday’s fight. And when he calls it — this time within the first four rounds — it always happens.
The fight is unorthodox, sure, but so is McGregor’s style. Switching stances and used to being hit with elbows, kicks and four-ounce gloves, McGregor has some variables on his side, too. For him, it could be one of the less physically taxing things he's done in his professional life. It’s just punches — no worries about being taken down, submitted or kneed in the face — and with bigger gloves.
Saturday’s fight, boxing purists, is more than just a regular ol’ boxing contest. It’s a fight between someone who owes the IRS millions of dollars and another person who’s done nothing but change the landscape of combat sports while trapped inside a cage.
You were there for Marvin Hagler vs. Thomas Hearns. You were there for Cassius Clay and Muhammad Ali. You were there for Mayweather’s other 49 fights. So don’t be a curmudgeon and miss out on what will undoubtedly be the most watched fight — yes, fight — in the sport’s history just because it’s different.
Because really — what else are going to do with the $99 you stubbornly kept? Invest in life insurance? At this point — at this age — you should've learned to live life with limited regrets.
Have some fun. Buy the fight — because it's far from a freak show.