LAS VEGAS — Conor McGregor was drinking Irish whiskey and acting like he had won. Floyd Mayweather Jr. was reminiscing about his early days as a fighter and looking forward to a different kind of business at his strip club.

There were smiles all around, and with good reason. Mayweather and McGregor pulled off an audacious gamble Saturday night, and all that was left to do was to count the money rolling in.

Mayweather estimated his take at $300-350 million. McGregor said he likely will clear $100 million, and said he had his accountants on speed dial to make sure it’s all collected.

Fans of boxing and mixed martial arts had to be happy, too. They got a reasonably entertaining fight that settled nothing about the two sports but embarrassed neither fighter.

“I enjoyed it very, very much,” McGregor said. “It was an honor for me to showcase my skills.”

They go their separate ways now, after a fight that had a little something for everyone. Mayweather won by battering McGregor around late until it was stopped in the 10th round, but McGregor was a big winner, too.

Advertisement

He was reasonably competent as a boxer in his first pro fight. He actually controlled the first few rounds and was never off his feet despite taking a beating in the late rounds.

Mayweather eventually figured him out and exposed him for the boxing novice he was. McGregor didn’t become king of boxing like he predicted before the fight, but he won millions of new fans and will now likely return to the UFC as its unquestioned star.

And Mayweather?

Well, 50-0 has a nice ring to it, passing the 49-0 record of Rocky Marciano that serves as a benchmark in the sport. He got a knockout that helped erase the stain from his fight with Manny Pacquiao two years earlier. And, after earning nearly $1 billion in his 21-year career, he can get on with his varied businesses and maybe even train a few fighters himself.

“You won’t see me in the ring anymore,” Mayweather said. “Any guy calling me out, forget it. I’m OK. I had a great career.”

Indeed, he did, winning every time he got into the ring and building his brand wisely so he could make a fortune off of it. No boxer has ever marketed himself like the man who calls himself Money, and he can now relax and enjoy his private jets, mansions and courtside seats to NBA games around the nation.

Advertisement

The criticism of the Pacquiao fight will fade away, and the last image of the best defensive fighter of his generation will be of him coming forward and going for one final knockout.

“I felt like I owed the fans a last hurrah,” Mayweather said. “I told you guys I’d come straight ahead and I told you the fight would not go the distance.”

The fight played out much like many expected. McGregor got off to a good start, Mayweather figured him out after a few rounds, and after that the only question was whether Mayweather would stop a fighter legitimately for the first time in nearly a decade.

He did, battering McGregor around the ring in the 10th round until the referee moved in to stop it. McGregor didn’t protest, though afterward he said he wished he would have been allowed to continue.

But that was a minor quibble. McGregor may have lost, but in just a few short months he did what few could have anticipated and made himself into a decent boxer who carried one of the best ever into the later rounds while remaining upright the whole time.

McGregor, 29, is almost bigger now than UFC. And someday he may venture back into the boxing ring if the price is right.

“I’m young, I’m fresh and I’m ready,” McGregor said. “Right now I’m a free agent. I love a good fight and tonight was a good fight. I can’t tell you exactly what’s next, but something will be next.”


Only subscribers are eligible to post comments. Please subscribe or login first for digital access. Here’s why.

Use the form below to reset your password. When you've submitted your account email, we will send an email with a reset code.