Well, that was ... something. Only 47 more days until we can all put this behind us. A parting tip for Showtime ahead of the remaining tour stops: why turn off McGregor’s microphone during Mayweather’s sermon? I’d understand if the trash talk was the side course per usual, but don’t hold out on us when events like today’s are effectively the main course.
At any rate, thanks for following along with us and do check back later for Rory Carroll’s full report from the ground in Los Angeles.
“God only made one thing perfect, and that’s my boxing record,” says Mayweather. And then they come together for the traditional staredown. They continue to mouth off at one another and Dana White is ultimately forced to break them up.
We knew this was coming 🔥👀
— SHOWTIME Boxing (@ShowtimeBoxing) July 11, 2017
Watch #MayweatherMcGregor press conference: https://t.co/iliqPrHQts pic.twitter.com/sbYlDziPhw
— 3MoreRounds (@3MoreRounds) July 11, 2017
More from Mayweather, who’s just getting started. “We knew I was the A-side,” he says. “That’s why it says Mayweather first. That’s why this bitch had to come to the boxing ring.
Floyd then took aim at McGregor’s three submission losses, only one in the UFC.
“We know Mr Tapout like to quit and you will,” Mayweather says, eyes narrowing. “You going out on your face or you going out on your back. Which way you want to go? Which way do you wanna go?
McGregor says nothing. A mistake.
“That’s right, be quiet you little bitch.”
This is profane. And the crowd is loving it.
Mayweather takes the stage after a short intro from Leonard Ellerbee and, wow ... just wow. He leads the crowd in a back-and-forth chant of his “Hard word, dedication” mantra – and then we’re off to the races: “You line ‘em up and I knock ‘em down. On August 26, I’m gonna knock this bitch out too.”
McGregor fires back from the side: “You haven’t knocked anyone out in about 20 years.”
Floyd is stalking back and forth across the stage like a revivalist preacher:
“Dance for me, boy!” cries McGregor, allowing scorekeepers at home to check racially charged rhetoric on their bingo cards. Dance for me, son!”
“Give me that backpack!” Floyd shouts to an assistant, before pulling out a $100m check from his last fight.
Adds Mayweather: “He look good for for a seven-figure fighter, he look good for an eight-figure fighter. But mother-fucker, I’m a nine figure fighter. This bitch made three million dollars his last fight. But we know that’s training camp money for me.”
McGregor makes a crack from his chair about how Mayweather should give the money to the tax man, to which Mayweather quickly fires back: “You right, I’m the IRS. I’m gonna tax your ass.”
“He’s in a fucking track suit,” McGregor says to the delight of the crowd, before taking shots at Mayweather’s reported tax troubles. “He can’t even afford a suit anymore! The Rolls is a 2012 outside. He is fooked!”
Adds McGregor: “There’s no other way about it. His little legs, his little core, his little head. I’m going to knock him out inside of four rounds, mark my words.
“The movement, the power, the ferociousness. He’s not experienced this. He’s fought people who have shied away fro, him. I don’t fear this limited set of fighting. This is a limited set of rules that makes this half a fight, a quarter of a fight. If this was a true fight, it wouldn’t even take one round. ... What can I say, I’m a young confident happy man that has worked extremely hard for this.”
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And here’s UFC president Dana White. I haven’t seen him this fired up since he stumped for Trump at the Republican National Convention. And now he introduces Conor McGregor ...
Espinoza calls Mayweather “by far, the No1 attraction in sports and entertainment”. He says he’s not at all surprised this fight is happening. It’s been the plan all along. Now MGM Resorts president of sports and entertainment Richard Sturm is called to the mic and the crowd is getting restless. It’s almost as if 20,000 fans are simultaneously realizing the occasional mind-numbing boredom of being a boxing journo.
Conor pumping his fist in the background and whipping the crowd into a frenzy as Sturm drones on. Meanwhile, Mayweather is sitting arms crossed in a star-spangled The Money Team jumper with a hat that for some reason is emblazoned with the number 48. (He’s 49-0, going for 50-0 with August’s fight.)
Showtime boxing czar Stephen Espinoza is at the dais. Basically, he’s just pushing the cable network’s programming over the next few weeks. We’ve heard today’s format is going to a bit of a hybrid of the traditional back-slapping boxing press conference in which a half-dozen suits take the mic before we hear from the principals and the far more fan-friendly UFC pressers that cut the fat and just go straight to the fighters.
Now Floyd Mayweather emerges to a version of Meek Mill’s Ima Boss that’s just playing the one bar that name-checks Mayweather (“At the fight we watchin’ Floyd we on the floor”). Oh there he is. No question who the A-side is here as Mayweather makes his way to the stage from the back of the room surrounded by his linebacker-sized bodyguards and entourage.
Well, this is happening. pic.twitter.com/eCUlqUKqhB
— Bryan Armen Graham (@BryanAGraham) July 11, 2017
McGregor is on the stage in a pinstripe suit with a pink tie. By himself. Perhaps a sound issue in the building or on the audio feed but he’s walked out by himself to no music or apparent fanfare. Maybe he just missed his cue? But he looks great.
The live show is beginning now. To start it off, they’re showing this official trailer on the JumboTron that was unveiled online on Friday.
“I could see him knocking out Floyd when it comes to the war of words,” Ranallo says. Schaub piggy-backs: “He’s undefeated in these press conferences.” Oh dear. At least the building is full.
Staples packed pic.twitter.com/gF2I6Sq1wX
— Lance Pugmire (@latimespugmire) July 11, 2017
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Just remembering that I watched Aloe Blacc perform at the Ryder Cup last October. Could Jordin Sparks finally have competition on the sports circuit that she’s owned for the better part of the last decade?
Now Showtime breaks to promote some of their original programming. Now more analysis from Ranallo, Malignaggi and Schaub. Ranallo praises McGregor’s “great mind” and “will to win”. How ever can Mayweather overcome it? Schaub is happy to take this one. Boxers are slow starters, he says, and Mayweather is no exception. MMA fighters don’t have that luxury since they’re only in three-round fights, five at the championship level. Perhaps McGregor could steal few rounds early? Malignaggi counters by asking what if Mayweather sits back and rallies later in the fight? Schaub points to Mayweather’s age – as if that’s not the biggest red herring in this event altogether. Yes, Mayweather is 40. But there’s not a ton of mileage on those tires. He doesn’t drink, doesn’t smoke and is one of the few fighters in the sport who stays in fighting shape 365 days a year. I’d be more worried about McGregor in the deep waters of a 12-round fight than the guy who’s been there dozens of times at the highest level. But what do I know?
Ranallo just referred to the “Twitter troglodytes” who are slagging off this fight, saying those same people will be the last-minute impulse buyers. He’s right but it sounds like a dare. Deep breaths. About 15 minutes before the “live show” begins. That might explain the press release that landed in my inbox last night. Yes, Aloe Blacc will be performing his new single King is Born live. To quote:
As a special presentation at the tour’s first event on Tuesday in Los Angeles, GRAMMY-nominated, multi-platinum XIX / Interscope recording artist Aloe Blacc will perform his new single “King Is Born” live at STAPLES Center. Blacc is known for his hit singles “I Need a Dollar,” “Wake Me Up,” “The Man” and “Love Is The Answer,” all of which reflect his quest for social justice. Blacc is currently working on the follow up to his GRAMMY-nominated album “Lift Your Spirit.”
He is the man. Meanwhile, Schaub continues to harp on the point that McGregor is the bigger guy, casting the contracted weight of 154lbs as a concession by Mayweather and a miscalculation (perhaps forgetting that Mayweather defeated De La Hoya and Canelo Cotto at 154, Canelo at a catch-weight of 152).
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“This is more than a fight, this is a cultural event,” barks Showtime’s gratingly exitable Mauro Ranallo during his intro. And away we go. OT Genasis is performing in the background and it sounds from the echo as if the arena is mostly empty. Still about a half-hour from the main show.
Now former UFC fighter Brendan Schaub, who once finished second in Spike TV’s The Ultimate Fighter: Heavyweights, says that McGregor will pull off the biggest upset in sports history because Mayweather is going up against an unknown and he doesn’t know how McGregor will come to fight. Oh boy.
Well, here we are. Today marks the first official signpost on the road to the much-talked-about boxing match between Floyd Mayweather Jr and Conor McGregor: the kickoff of a four-city, three-country international press tour to drum up interest in their 12-round super welterweight matchup on 26 August at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
As I wrote in the Guardian when it was announced last month, this fight rates with other one-off sideshows in the annals of sport alongside Muhammad Ali’s lamentable fight with the Japanese pro wrestler Antonio Inoki, the made-for-television 150m match race between Donovan Bailey and Michael Johnson, and the Battle of the Sexes between Billie Jean King and Bobby Riggs. It’s not a good thing or bad thing for either boxing or mixed martial arts as other prisoners of the moment will try to persuade you in countless thinkpieces over the next 47 days. It’s not anything except a quick-strike cash grab with no long-term significance: a platform to prove that a seasoned professional boxer will defeat a first-time boxer in a boxing match. The price point for the pay-per-view telecast was announced yesterday: $89.95 for the standard-definition telecast, $99.95 for HD. You’d be better off setting that money on fire.
But to paraphrase the great Jimmy Connors: This is what they’ll pay for. This is what they want.
So who am I to pee in your Corn Flakes? Do I really hate fun? Of course not. This will get people under the tent and it’s good for business. There will be lights and cameras and two hard men barking mean things to each other for the better part of seven weeks and then the bell will ring and Mayweather will coast to a 12-round unanimous decision. Really the only drama, as your humble narrator sees it, will be whether McGregor can land a single punch. (I sincerely doubt it).
In many ways the most entertaining bits could come today, when the fighters meet face to the face for the first time, at least publicly. The tour kicks off in a few moments at the Staples Center in Los Angeles before heading to Toronto on Wednesday, Brooklyn on Thursday and London on Friday.
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Bryan will be here shortly. In the meantime, here’s a look at how Mayweather reportedly plans on spending at least part of his massive financial windfall from this fight.
