Mayweather vs McGregor: Boxing's Most Meaningless Fight

Over the past weeks, I have been inundated with Floyd Mayweather vs Conor McGregor fight analysis. I’ve been along for the ride on all of the Paulie Malignaggi drama, the poor press tour, and the eight ounce glove saga. Along the way, I began to hear some somewhat curious things. I’ve heard a lot of fans and outlets play up how important this fight is. That seems like an obvious thing to do if you were promoting the fight, yet it really stretches the truth more than usual in this case. People seem to think, or at least promote, the idea that somehow the entire sports of boxing or MMA will be affected by this bout. Others still seem to imply that the complete careers and legacies of the two competitors are somehow intrinsically tied to the results of this one fight. I want to set the record straight. I’m going to take a look at what happens if either fighter wins, and prove once and for all, that no matter how much excitement, interest, or literal invested interest you have in this fight; the outcome will not matter.

First off, I figured it would be best to take a look at what would happen if the current odds on favorite, Floyd Mayweather, won the fight. If Mayweather wins this bout, many have said it will help cement his legacy as one of the greats. The problem is, at least in my eyes, that most people would already consider Mayweather one of the greats. Whether you love him or hate him, you would be hard pressed to find a boxing fan who does not acknowledge that Mayweather had one of the best boxing careers of the 21st century. Why then, would a win against a 0-0 competitor have any effect on Mayweather’s legacy? Sure, McGregor is a great MMA competitor. That far from guarantees he is a great boxer though. It’s ridiculous to think that a man who has beat Manny Pacquiao, Oscar De La Hoya, and Canelo Alvarez would feel any sort of intense accomplishment over beating a completely unproven boxer. That, however, makes a nice segway to my next point. Lots of people, primarily fans it would seem, suggest that this fight will once and for all prove which sport is “better”: boxing or MMA. This is perhaps more far-fetched than believing that Mayweather’s career will be affected by beating McGregor. I think it’s clear that if (or more likely when) Mayweather beats McGregor, it only proves that McGregor is not meant for a career in boxing. In no way does it somehow tarnish any of his MMA accolades. It also does not prove that a boxer could beat a MMA fighter in a “fight”. Nevermind the ridiculousness of trying to make some sort of case that some sort of “street fight” would prove which sport is better, every clear-headed thinker realizes that each sport approaches fighting in a completely different way. That makes it impossible to truly say which sport tops the other in a “fight”. Overall, I think it’s clear that if Mayweather wins, in no way does it help his legacy or the hypothetical standing of boxing, it just boosts the net worth for a man known as Money.

At this point, there’s probably a fair amount of people who agree that if Mayweather wins, nothing positive or negative will really occur. However, many people probably have different opinions about what would occur if Conor McGregor won. If McGregor pulls out the surprise win, many will probably say it taints the career of Mayweather. I suppose that, in a way, it does. Mayweather would no longer be the undefeated fighter he retired as. I would argue that doesn’t matter though. It makes no difference to Mayweather’s place in history whether or not he wins in this match. It’s been proven time in and time out throughout sports that a competitor returning from retirement rarely finds a way to affect his legacy. Take Michael Jordan’s ill-fated run playing for the Washington Wizards for example. Many people have probably forgotten the years that Jordan spent attempting an NBA comeback on the Wizards. His on court presence, although still respected, was far less than what it used to be. The Wizards failed to make the playoffs with Jordan on the team, something which can only be seen as a complete failure for a man who lead the Chicago Bulls to six NBA Championships in the 90’s. If you’ll notice, most people never even consider this comeback when they discuss Michael Jordan being the best basketball player ever. It’s been a more or less completely shunned part of history. If that isn’t enough to convince you of the meaninglessness of a Mayweather loss, than take into account the example of Brett Favre. Favre played for many years on the Jets and Vikings, announcing his retirement several times before inevitably coming back. His skills were clearly diminished while he was on those teams. He was plagued with injuries while coming back, and he was unable to lead either team anywhere near the success of the Packers teams he played for in his prime. Nevertheless, these sagas, while sometimes still mocked, usually don’t impact how people judge Favre as a quarterback. Most consider him to still be one of the greatest quarterbacks to ever play the game. That’s what I look at when people say that Mayweather’s legacy would be ruined by a McGregor loss. History has shown that it would eventually end up as a sideshow forgotten fight in an otherwise illustrious career. All this may seem fine, yet I do realize it does not address what occurs to the career of Conor McGregor if he wins against Floyd Mayweather. Truthfully, I can’t say for certain what may happen. If he were to stay around and fight, he would most likely be pushed towards taking a bout with the winner of Canelo Alvarez vs Gennady Golovkin. In that match, he would no longer be facing an aging competitor coming off of retirement. He would be facing a fighter in his prime coming off one of the biggest wins of his career. If, in the more likely scenario, McGregor chooses to leave boxing after beating Mayweather, either to continue his MMA career or slip into a retirement of his own, then nothing really happens. Sure, McGregor will have bragging rights over Mayweather. That’s about it though. Nothing else besides a full pocket of cash will have been gained by McGregor from this fight. That, and the fact that Mayweather’s legacy will not be greatly affected, leads me to believe that a McGregor win also means very little in the grand scheme of boxing life.

Overall, all of this should just go to show what a complete media circus Mayweather vs McGregor has become. Everyone realizes it for the obvious reasons, but for the reasons which some say would matter, many have not read between the lines. Nothing will change as a result of Mayweather vs McGregor. It will arguably be the most low impact Pay-Per-View event for boxing this year. In the end, if you want to watch a fight which really matters, I suggest you save your hard earned money for Alvarez vs Golovkin. Now that’s a fight with some real high stakes.