By Norm Frauenheim-
Talk, talk and more talk about Floyd Mayweather Jr.-versus-Conor McGregor continue to light up social media these days with no end – or relief – in sight.
Not sure who to blame, but the tirelessly talkative McGregor appears to be doing what Mayweather mastered in marketing himself and then landing a huge Showtime contract that led to about a $220-million payday against Manny Pacquiao.
McGregor could generate international attention for getting a driver’s license these days. Essentially, that’s what the UFC’s mega-mouth did in acquiring a boxing license in California. It cost him 60 bucks. He had to fill out a four-page form and pass a physical. It was quick, simple and nobody asked him to parallel-park.
In no time, Twitter, Facebook, websites and even mainstream media exploded all over again with speculation about a McGregor bout with Mayweather. Stock the shelves with antacid, because there’s going to be a lot more of this stuff.
Chances appear to be slim-to-none that the bout would — could — happen. McGregor is under contract to the UFC. Meanwhile, Mayweather continues to send out mixed messages about whether he wants to come back.
If McGregor tries to get out of his UFC contract in pursuit of a Mayweather bout, a long and tangled legal battle is likely. Mayweather, who is one victory short of 50-0, has a lot of things, but time isn’t one of them. He’ll be 40 on Feb. 24.
I doubt it will happen. But I’m old, more than old enough not be included in the emerging generation of MMA fans. I also suspect that my doubts reflect an opinion shared by many in the aging crowd of fellow boxing fans. To wit: I hope it doesn’t happen. Could it? In an era when a presidential campaign is won with tweetstorms, anything can.
There’s momentum in the internet fascination. Betting odds were even posted by Westgate in Las Vegas Thursday. If the bout went from mythical to fact, Mayweather would be a 25-1 favorite in what would be a boxing match against McGregor, who began as an amateur boxer as a 12-year-old in Dublin.
Translation: Nobody thinks McGregor would have any kind of chance at all. So why is social media still buzzing about it?
There are all kinds of reasons, including a compelling one offered by Mayweather Promotions CEO Leonard Ellerbe. Ellerbe told ESPN’s Dan Rafael that people are talking about it because of race. McGregor is Irish and white, Mayweather is African-American and boxing has a long racial history defined by The Great White Hope.
If Ellerbe is right – and I think he is, the racial component will only fuel further talk about the bout. More talk means more of the one thing that could make it happen: Money, which also happens to be Mayweather’s nickname and motivation. Speculated numbers have been all over the place. They’ve also been uniformly big, anywhere from $800 million to a billion.
That would pay a lot of McGregor’s legal bills and might be enough to lure Mayweather back through the ropes. Then, however, the global bubble of anticipation would quickly deflate. Remember the mix of disappointment and outrage over Mayweather’s decision over Pacquiao in May, 2015? Multiply that, again and again.
There’s also precedence for what might happen. Classic boxing matches between a boxer and MMA fighter have been a mixed-martial-arts mess. I sat through one in Phoenix, Ariz., last March.
That’s when aging Roy Jones Jr. scored a second-round stoppage in a made-for-pay-per-view event over a guy named Vyron Phillips, who had been fighting MMA and had experience as an amateur boxer.
Phillips got a boxing license from the Arizona State Boxing and MMA Commission, but he had no business in a ring within punching range of a boxing legend way past his prime. The event was a joke, an embarrassment not worth repeating, especially on a global stage that could be a billion times more embarrassing.
