Stop the nonsense – Conor McGregor doesn’t have even a puncher’s chance against Floyd Mayweather

The frenzied build-up has been such that it has clouded judgement to the point where people are ignoring the evidence: the debutant has no chance against the unbeaten grand master

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Boxer Floyd Mayweather Jr. goes through moves during a media workout at the Mayweather Boxing Club on August 10, 2017 in Las Vegas, Nevada. Mayweather is preparing to face MMA fighter Connor Mcgregor on August 26th at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas in what could be one of the richest fights in history. M / AFP PHOTO / John Gurzinski

Paul Ryding

Paul Ryding is a sports writer who has been based in China since 2007.

Published: 6:00pm, 18 Aug 2017Updated: 4:43pm, 24 Aug 2017

The death of boxing? A new dawn for MMA? Next Saturday’s bout between unbeaten four-weight world boxing champion Floyd Mayweather Jnr and impressively cocksure debutant Conor McGregor likely represents neither.

It still feels a bit strange that this spectacle is even going ahead. It all happened so fast. It was only a few months ago that this was still being described as what it is: two brilliant manipulators of the mass-media taking full advantage of the click-bait frenzy that is modern journalism by making arch claims of superiority and engaging in bouts of playground goading.

Somewhere along the way, someone looked at the hits, shares and likes the soap opera was garnering and came to the conclusion that far from a “what if” daydream this was actually a huge opportunity to make serious money. More than Mayweather had ever made during his illustrious career by some distance, in fact, and far more than McGregor could ever dream of making in the heavily franchised MMA game.

Conor McGregor is a leading light in MMA, but in boxing terms he’s a limited amateur. Photo: AFP

At this point, it can only be assumed that the majority of people who have parted with money to watch the bout, either at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas or on the most expensive pay-per-view terms in boxing history, are not fans of either boxing or MMA. Those with either dog in the fight know that realistically Mayweather wins the contest easily, unless of course he chooses to protract matters. Rather, the majority of buyers appear to be people who have been taken in by the improbably high production value that surrounded the whirlwind, worldwide media pantomime and the brash, race-baiting, trash-talking of its combatants.

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The build-up has been high melodrama of the sort that would make writers of Coronation Street blush and it appears to have caught the attention of the casual observer with US$100 to spare, as the money men gleefully forecast it will be the highest-grossing contest in the history of martial arts. Which was the plan all along.