STANDING UP AGAINST THE RAILING OF THE PATIO AT A BUFFALO WILD WINGS – Did I pay the $100 to watch Floyd Mayweather Jr. vs. Manny Pacquiao in HD? Yes.
Do I regret it? Yeah, a little.
Would I have ponied up the $100 to watch Floyd Mayweather and Conor McGregor fight? Most definitely. But I didn’t have too because I watched it outside of a max-capacity Buffalo Wild Wings in Wilkes-Barre, Pa.
I know there’s the general consensus here at Meet The Matts that I’m an uber-optimist. Is it true? Eh, maybe I am. But that was still a really good fight.
For a 40-year-old Mayweather coming off of a two-year and a first-time boxer in McGregor squaring off against each other, that was an enjoyable fight all things considered.
Was it a slow beginning? Yes, but Mayweather was figuring out McGregor. The UFC star certainly did bring his own style into the ring.
Could Mayweather have ended the fight earlier? Yeah, probably. But he knew better.
Nobody wanted to see a KO in the first few rounds. A lot of people spent a lot of money to watch this fight. And they got their money worth.
Mayweather was aggressive for once, something that I’m sure was a delight to all viewers, and McGregor did more than hold his own. He just wasn’t fully prepared.
Five rounds in UFC is much different than 12 rounds in boxing. It was pretty clear in the eighth and ninth rounds that Mayweather had taken over and it was only a matter of time.
I also tip my hat to both Mayweather and McGregor for the way they handled themselves Saturday. Especially McGregor.
The two had the utmost respect for each other. McGregor, a guy who has so much pride it rubs a lot of people the wrong way, was extremely humble in defeat, because he could have been much more upset about the way the fight ended than he led on.
Much respect.
The only question left to be answered now is, what’s next?
Will there be a rematch? Probably not, but at the same time, would you be surprised? Because I wouldn’t. Mayweather needs the money and McGregor’s payday was much larger Saturday night than it’s ever been in the UFC.
Then there’s the idea of a rematch, but in the octagon. That I have trouble seeing. Mayweather made a $100 million on Saturday. He’d make a fraction of that in a UFC fight.
Does McGregor stay in boxing for a little bit before going back to MMA? That I could see. He clearly enjoyed his time boxing. I think people would pay money to watch him fight Canelo Alveraz. I’d like to see him box again. Learn from his mistakes and maybe he’d win a fight.
Come back tomorrow for Ben Whitney and please follow us on Twitter at @ByDJEberle, @MeetTheMatts & @Matt_McCarthy00, Instagram @MeetTheMatts and like our Facebook page, Meet The Matts.
