For months, it seemed as though Floyd Mayweather vs Conor McGregor’s was the fight that would never happen. But now, this year’s Fight of the Century is less than a week away.
The fight will take place at the T-Mobile Arena, located on the Las Vegas Strip in Paradise, Nevada on Saturday 26 August.
Although Mayweather is the overwhelming favourite to win the contest at the T-Mobile Arena. McGregor’s braggadocio has seen him dominate the vast majority of the pre-fight headlines, and odds on the Irishman have shortened in recent weeks.
That means Mayweather and McGregor will more than likely be in the ring sometime between 4-5am BST. It could even be fractionally later. It certainly won’t be any earlier.
First opening its doors last year, the T-Mobile Arena can seat 20,000 people for boxing and MMA events, meaning it is fractionally larger than the neighbouring MGM Grand Garden Arena. Mayweather is the favourite.
Mayweather boasts one of the finest records in the history of boxing. After 49 professional fights he has 49 victories, including 26 by knockout. In his 19 year professional career, he was only knocked to the canvas once – by Carlos Hernandez in 2001 – in a fight he won by unanimous decision.
Mayweather, who was ranked by ESPN as the greatest pound for pound boxer of the last 25 years in 2016, needs just one more win to surpass Rocky Marciono’s flawless record of 49-0.
McGregor meanwhile boasts a professional record of 21-3 and a UFC record of 9-1. At UFC 194 he knocked out José Aldo in just 13 seconds to become the UFC Featherweight Champion, and at UFC 205 he knocked out Eddie Alvarez for the UFC Lightweight Championship, to become the first fighter in the history of the company to hold titles in two weight divisions simultaneously.
The Irishman has never been knocked out in his career – with his three professional defeats all coming via submission – and began boxing as a 12-year-old at Crumlin Boxing Club under two-time Olympian Phil Sutcliffe.
The fight will almost certainly be the most valuable fight of all-time. The fight is expected to gross almost 5million PPV buys, which would net a cash windfall of $475m. Sponsorship would likely top $20m, while the projected Nevada betting on the fight stands at $30m.
White has estimated that Mayweather will net up to $100m for the fight, with McGregor slated to earn around $75m. “He [Mayweather] feels like he’s the A-side and he should get more of it. But we haven’t really gotten into that negotiation yet,” White explained back in April.
The real reason that McGregor stands to earn substantially less than Mayweather is because McGregor is locked into his contract with the UFC, as Jake Cohen explains in this article. But this will still be the largest purse of McGregor’s career by a substantial distance.
