By: William Holmes
Weigh In Results:
Floyd Mayweather Jr. (49-0) 149 1/2 vs. Conor McGregor 153 (0-0, 21-3 MMA)
Gervonta Davis (18-0) vs. Francisco Fonseca (19-0-1)
Nathan Cleverly (30-3) vs. Badou Jack (21-1-2)
Andrew Tabiti (14-0) vs. Steve Cunningham (29-8-1)
Date: Saturday, Aug. 26 Time: 9 p.m. ET (main card) Location: T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas
TV: Showtime PPV (USA) | Sky Box Office (UK/Ireland)
PPV Cost: $89.99 SD/ $99.99 for HD, £19.95 UK/ €24.95 Ireland
Stream it: Showtime PPV Online | Showtime PPV app Sky Sports (UK) | UFC.TV | Sling | Sony’s Playstation
Corona Ring Girls: Kyra Keli, Tawny Jordan, Jessica Harbour and Samantha Kumiko
Fight Odds: Floyd Mayweather Jr -450 (2/9) Conor McGregor +325 (13/4)
Tale of the Tape:
Floyd Mayweather
From: United States Age 40 Height: 5’8″ Weight: 154 Reach: 72″ Record: (49-0 boxing, 26 KOs)
Conor McGregor
From: Ireland, Age: 28 Height: 5’9″ Weight: 154 Reach: 74″ Record (21-3 MMA, 18 KOs)
PPV Card Preview
Floyd Mayweather Jr. (49-0) vs. Conor McGregor (0-0, 21-3 MMA); Junior Middleweight Division
He’s defeated pretty much every big name in the sport of boxing in the past fifteen years in the welterweight division.
His list of notable defeated opponents is long, and very impressive. He has defeated the likes of Andre Berto, Manny Pacquiao, Marcos Maidana, Saul Alvarez, Robert Guerrero, Miguel Cotto, Victo Ortiz, Shane Mosley, Juan Manuel Marquez, Ricky Hatton, Oscar De La Hoya, Zab Judah, Arturo Gatti, DeMarcus Corley, Jose Luis Castillo, Carlos Hernandez, Diego Corrales, and Angel Manfredy.
A large portion of those opponents will make it to the boxing hall of fame.
Conor McGregor has never competed in boxing as a professional, but did start training in boxing at the age of 12 at the Crumlin Boxing Club.
Floyd Mayweather won a bronze medal in the 1996 Summer Olympics. That was the last time he tasted defeat.
On paper, this looks like no contest. Mayweather has defeated every opponent thrown his way. He’s defeated south paws, orthodox boxers, brawlers, boxers known for their speed, boxers known for their technical savvy, larger and bigger boxers, boxers who are known for having an incredible amount of heart, and he’s also defeated a few legends along the way such as Manny Pacquiao and Oscar De La Hoya.
McGregor has sparred with Chris Van Hardeen and Paulie Malignaggi and was only able to make himself look good by heavily editing the videos his team chose to release so that he looked good. When he sparred both Chris Van Hardeen and Paulie Malignaggi both boxers were self admittedly out of shape and were not preparing for a big fight.
McGregor does have an advantage in size and age. He will be about one inch taller than Mayweather and will have a two inch reach advantage. The last time Mayweather fought someone with a longer reach than him was when he fought Oscar De La Hoya in 2007.
Many people state McGregor has the power advantage over Mayweather. Floyd has stopped twenty six of his opponents, but has only stopped one of his past ten opponents. That opponent that he stopped, Victor Ortiz, was arguably the result of a punch that should have been called a foul. McGregor has eighteen knockout wins on his resume, but it should be noted that in MMA you can continue to strike your opponent when he hits the ground, you can’t do that in boxing.
A lot has been made about McGregor’s three losses in MMA. However, it should be noted that those three losses were by submission and you can’t lose by submission in boxing. McGregor has never been stopped by strikes in the sport of MMA.
There is another area in McGregor’s game that a lot of boxing analysts are overlooking, and that’s his movement and his awkward style. Too much is made of McGregor’s lack of boxing technique and too little is made of the fact he isn’t using boxing technique when he fights, and doesn’t try to. His style will be unique and unlike anything Mayweather has ever faced in his career.
McGregor is also more of a counter puncher than an offensive fighter so fans that expect McGregor to be constantly moving forward will be disappointed and surprised. If Mayweather is not taking the fight seriously or hasn’t studied tape of McGregor, he may also be in for a surprise.
McGregor’s movement and range is also underrated. He has an uncanny ability in the sport of MMA to hit and then get out and he is a very accurate puncher. However, that movement and range is designed to also defend against kicks, knees, elbows, and takedowns. It isn’t designed for punches only.
Officials: Referee: Robert Byrd, Judges: Burt Clements, Dave Moratti and Guido Cavalleri
Gervonta Davis (18-0) vs. Francisco Fonseca (19-0-1); IBF Super Featherweight Title
Gervonta Davis is one of Floyd Mayweather’s best boxers in his stable and he will be defending his IBF Super Featherweight Title for the second time in his career.
Unfortunately for fight fans, even though Conor McGregor has zero professional fights, this may be the biggest mismatch on paper of the night.
Very few American boxing pundits have seen Fonseca fight live. So little is known about him that it’s difficult to find his height and reach listed anywhere online.
Gervonta Davis is the youngest current boxing world champion from the United States. He has extreme power in his hands and has stopped seventeen of his opponents and is currently riding a nine fight stoppage streak.
Davis also comes from a deep amateur background and was the 2012 National Golden Gloves Champion, a three time National Silver Gloves Champion, and a two time PAL Champion.
He’s been fairly active and fought twice in 2017 and twice in 2016. Activity is the one area Fonseca may have a slight edge on Davis, as he fought once in 2017 and five times in 2016.
Davis’ notable victories have come against Liam Walsh, Jose Pedraza, Cristobal Cruz, and Luis Sanchez.
Fonseca has never tasted defeat and is also relatively young. He’s twenty three years old and is from Costa Rica. He has thirteen stoppage victories on his record and is currently riding a five fight win by stoppage streak.
This will be Fonseca’s first fight in the United States and he has spent his entire career before this fighting in South America. He has defeated no notable opponents. In fact, two of his past four opponents had losing records. His biggest win to date was probably against Luis Gonzalez, who had a record of 22-8-1 at the time.
Davis is known for his devastating power, and that should be on full display on Saturday night.
Nathan Cleverly (30-3) vs. Badou Jack (21-1-2); WBA Light Heavyweight Title
On paper, this looks like it should be the most competitive fight of the night.
Badou Jack is thirty three years old and three years older than Cleverly but has been on a roll recently and is bumping up to the light heavyweight division from the super middleweight division.
The boxers are identical in size with Badou Jack giving up a half an inch in height and an inch in reach. Both boxers haven’t been very active the past two years. Cleverly fought once in 2016 and twice in 2015. Jack fought once in 2017 and once in 2016.
Jack has the edge in amateur experience. He competed in the 2008 Summer Olympics for Gambia and is a five time Swedish National Champion as an amateur. Cleverly claims to have gone 32-4 as an amateur but did not compete in the international stage like Badou Jack.
Jack has defeated the likes of Lucian Bute, George Groves, Anthony Dirrell, Rogelio Medina, and Alexander Brand. He has draws with Marco Antonio Periban and James DeGale on his resume. His lone loss was an upset loss to Derek Edwards in 2014.
Cleverly has defeated the likes of Juergen Braehmer, Robin Krasniqi, Tommy Karpency, Tony Bellew, Nadjib Mohammedi, and Karo Murat. His losses were to Andrzej Fonfara, Sergey Kovalev, and he lost the rematch to Tony Bellew.
This should be a competitive fight and could go either way, but Cleverly only fought once in 2016 and twice in 2015 and has gone 2-2 in his past fought fights. Jack should be the favorite in this light heavyweight fight.
Andrew Tabiti (14-0) vs. Steve Cunningham (29-8-1); Cruiserweight Division
The opening bout will be between Andrew Tabiti, a man Floyd Mayweather Sr. once said was the prospect with highest ceiling in his gym, and Steve USS Cunningham, a former Cruiserweight world champion.
Tabiti will be fourteen years younger than his opponent, but will be giving up about two inches in height and approximately five and a half inches in reach. He also appears to have an edge in power as he has stopped twelve of his opponents in only fourteen fights while Cunningham has thirteen stoppage wins, and only one stoppage win since 2011.
Unfortunately for Tabiti, despite his high praise from Floyd Mayweather Sr. he has only fought twice since 2016. Cunningham has also only fought twice, but he’s not in the middle of his athletic prime like Tabiti is.
Both boxers competed in the United States as amateurs, but neither boxer experienced much success on the international stage as an amateur.
Tabiti has not faced significant opposition yet, and his two decision wins came within his past four fights. He has beaten the likes of Quantis Graves, Keith Tapia, and Roberto Santos.
Cunningham has gone 1-2-1 in his last four fights and his last good victory was against Amir Mansour. His other notable wins came much earlier in his career and include the likes of Troy Ross, Wayne Braithwaite, Marco Huck, Krzysztof Wlodarzcyk,and Guillermo Jones.
Cunningham has never shied away from a good opponent but he hasn’t always found success against them either. His eight losses have all come against quality opposition, and they include the likes of Krzysztof Glowacki, Vyacheslav Glazkov, Tyson Fury, Tomasz Adamek, Yoan Pablo Hernandez, and Krzysztof Wlodarzcyk.
Cunningham briefly flirted with the heavyweight division before deciding to head back down to the cruiserweight division where he experienced success early on in his career. Tabiti has never faced someone that has competed on the world stage like Cunningham has, but Tabiti age and potential will present a very difficult challenge for Cunningham to overcome.
