Tale of the Tape | The sad epilogues of Floyd Mayweather and Conor McGregor’s careers
- ‘Money’ and ‘The Notorious’ were once the best in their sports, putting on pugilist clinics full of raw talent sprinkled with pizzazz
- Now they resort to controversy, gimmicks and pandering to social media to bring in cash and publicity when neither needs to
Back in 2007, when boxing was still a marquee draw and the UFC was only starting to find its footing, two legends took to the ring in an epic, generational fight. A display of technical, raw talent that boxing purists had been salivating over for months.
One Golden, one Pretty, Floyd Mayweather and Oscar De La Hoya duked it out for 12 rounds to a split decision for Mayweather in the mecca of pay-per-view and glitzy opulence – the MGM Grand Arena in Las Vegas.
It was all about the fight in the lead up to the event, a US$130 million super bout with multiple storylines, including Mayweather’s disgruntled father looking to cash in on his illustrious DNA. In the end it was a great tilt, but more importantly, what it wasn’t, was a debacle.
Eight years and a few months later, UFC fans were introduced to mixed martial arts’ next generational superstar. It took the “Notorious” Conor McGregor one punch and all of 13 seconds to knock out Jose Aldo and become a household name and an overnight sensation. McGregor was arguably at the pinnacle of his career inside the Octagon when he perched himself six feet above the ground post-fight and looked casually around the MGM Grand for his next opponent.
Mayweather was supposed to hang up the gloves after his super fight with De La Hoya, and McGregor’s career after Aldo has seen him fight only four times in the UFC since 2015, two of which were losses.
