McMayweather Inc. – The clash of the content providers inches closer and closer
By G.E. Simons
A cross-over combat sports encounter between MMA’s premier champion Conor McGregor and boxing’s ‘retired’ star attraction Floyd Mayweather, continues to evolve from whimsical ‘what if’ rumour to clickbaity content provision, to public relations lever to possibility to real possibility to very real possibility.
And as long as the encounter is viewed as pure sportstainment for the black mirror generation there’s not a lot wrong with it.
Moreover, this sort of carnival is nothing new. This may well be the ‘I Am The Slime’ era when it comes to a lot mainstream viewing content, but Muhammad Ali was doing this sort of thing in a Japanese ring back in 1976, way before Kim Kardashian was born.
So in 2017 it’s a commercial no brainer that the current kings of sports and lifestyle content provision have formed McMayweather inc. and will build this new brand before cashing out on the stock market flotation of fight night.
Talking of commercial no brainers, we are now two days removed from Conor McGregor’s Q&A in Manchester, England which was attended by an incredible 5,000 fans and streamed online via notoriouslive.co with a pay-per-view price tag of £3.99 ($5).
Hosted by MMA journalist Ariel Helwani, the event billed as ‘An Experience with Conor McGregor – From Nothing, to Something to Everything’ was a real first-of-its-kind chat show and reiterated both McGregor’s star and drawing power.
And between the F-bombs, sips of vodka & orange and tales of spinning Hollywood Rolodex, McGregor made it perfectly clear what’s up, “The next time I fight, I will step through the ropes with gloves on. I got my eyes on one thing and that’s Floyd Mayweather.”
Meanwhile on the other side of the Atlantic and speaking with Showtime in Las Vegas Floyd Mayweather replied, “I believe the fight could happen. He’s a tough competitor and has proved throughout the years in the UFC that he can fight standing up. So we’ll just have to see what the future holds. Hopefully we can make the fight happen.”
So far so good if you prefer your athletics to feel like they have been scripted and directed by Sylvester Stallone.
Because even Floyd Mayweather concedes that the entertainment value of his burgeoning merger with Conor McGregor is one based on entertainment rather than sporting endeavour, “The fans want this fight. The fans have been asking for this fight,” He said. “It’s all about entertainment. He’s very entertaining. He’s very outspoken like myself. So let’s give the fans what they want to see.”
Mixed Martial Arts and Boxing are combat sports which share similarities in the same way that tennis and squash share similarities as racquet sports but losing 6-0, 6-0, 6-0 or being humbled at the fists of another man in front of a global audience are two very different things.
Floyd Mayweather Vs. Conor McGregor is already entertaining so if, as expected, this fight gets signed there are no worries about the entertainment value for the voyeurs or the bank balances of the combatants.
But in the squared circle of a boxing ring Floyd Mayweather will befuddle and humble his opponent in the same way that Conor McGeregor would be forcing some hurried tapping from his opponent behind the mesh fence of a mixed martial arts octagon.