A Look at the Fight of the Century

Floyd Mayweather will take his perfect record with him into retirement, but his 50^th win took a lot longer than everyone expected it to. The Money Fight was expected to be a fast and furious beating, but Mayweather spent all of ten rounds bringing McGregor down.

McGregor Disappointed by Byrd’s Intervention

Colin McGregor was still standing when the referee, Robert Byrd, intervened, at one minute into the tenth round of the fight, and expressed his dissatisfaction at Byrd’s decision. There was no question, however, that the Irishman was battling fatigue and that this opponent’s punches were beginning to take their toll.

McGregor Found His Pace Early On

After repeatedly hurling snide and pointed remarks at Mayweather in the fight’s much hyped lead-up, it was, in fact, McGregor who presented the more earnest figure when the fighters stood listening to the rules for the bout before the opening bell was struck.

McGregor then very quickly found his rhythm, fawning at Mayweather with his right hand and making use of his reach in order to keep Mayweather at an uneasy distance. McGregor’s confidence soared –so much so that at one point he folded his hands behind his back and challenged Mayweather to hit him. He managed to catch Mayweather with an uppercut, and set the pace and distance of the opening round.

McGregor Gets a Warning in Round Two

In the second round of Saturday night’s fight, McGregor was warned not to hit Mayweather in the back of the head, as the American seemed to be having trouble pinpointing McGregor’s style.

Fatigue Sets in and Mayweather Takes Advantage

By the start of the fourth round Mayweather had started finding his range, and the fact that McGregor is more used to fighting fewer rounds for longer periods of time started to show, as he began to tire. The punters who had backed the Irishman at the various Aussie Sports betting sites offering markets for this fight despaired as it became obvious that McGregor would not go the distance after all.

By the fight’s midpoint McGregor was clearly running out of steam, and although his supporters tried to rally him, he continued to wilt. By the ninth round, Mayweather was the star of the show, and McGregor was battling to keep his arms up as the 40-year old boxing legend rained blows on him. Byrd could not but intervene in the next round when McGregor staggered back into the ropes after receiving a series of heavy right hands, and a TKO was called. It was a display of sports psychology at its best and in the end, Mayweather had managed to emerge triumphant, drawing from his previous 49 victories as a base to keep him standing in the ring.

Mayweather says the fight all went according to plan for him, and that the fight plan devised by him and his father was to take time, and go to McGregor, letting him wear himself out early on before Mayweather went in for the kill later.

Mayweather stated that they had watched McGregor’s MMA performances and observed that after 25 minutes McGregor started slowing down, and that’s what the undefeated boxer took advantage of as he stepped into the ring last Saturday night for the last fight he will ever take part in.