By Michael Stets
On Saturday night, the combat sports world will be at a stand still when undefeated boxer and five-time champion Floyd “Money” Mayweather takes on current UFC lightweight champion “The Notorious” Conor McGregor at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Announced in June, the fight is expected to rake in record numbers in both live gate and pay-per-view, with estimates of $60 million for the former, and PPV buys projected to eclipse 4.6 million–the record set in 2015 when Mayweather defeated Manny Pacquiao–for the latter.
But this mega fight pitting one of the greatest boxers of all time against one of the best fighters in mixed martial arts isn’t drawing interest from only fans familiar with the squared circle and the Octagon. It’s transcending across all sports, including the NFL, and of course, the Detroit Lions.
The Honolulu blue and silver host the New England Patriots on Friday night, so many of the players will be watching Mayweather vs. McGregor on Saturday. Earlier in the week, the Allen Park locker room was abuzz with predictions and discussion about the upcoming fight.
“I got Floyd all day,” said Marvin Jones.
Is Jones a fan of Mayweather?
“I guess you can say that,” Jones continued. “Just because as a boxer, him having the record that he’s had, people can say what they want to say but it’s hard to do you know? The way he trains. The way he slips and moves. He’s slippery. I think that Conor, he’s not going to be fast enough to match what he has, what Floyd has, and I like Conor as well.”
Rookie wide out Kenny Golladay chimed in with his prediction, “I’m going Mayweather. I just feel like he’s the greatest, really. I feel like it will be a little different for McGregor just coming from MMA going to actually straight boxing it will be a little tough for him probably.”
Jace Billingsley, a four-time Nevada state wrestling champion in high school, now in a heated battle at wide receiver to make the 53-man roster, is leaning toward Mayweather too but he’s giving McGregor, 21-3 in MMA, a chance.
“You definitely have to give the advantage to Mayweather,” said Billingsley, whose 223-8 career wrestling record still stands as best in Nevada state history. “It’s his sport. I’m not counting McGregor out as much as most people probably are. I think he’s got a chance, but Mayweather is definitely going to be the favorite. But we’ll see. I’m excited. I’m going to watch that.”
Billingsley added: “I’m glad we didn’t have a game going at the same time so it will be fun.”
Lions quarterback Matthew Stafford said he was leaning toward watching the fight.
“I’m not much of a boxing or MMA fan but I”m probably going to get the fight anyways because it sounds interesting,” said Stafford.
As for who he thinks will win, Stafford said, “I watched, obviously, a bunch of the lead up to it. I feel like it can go either way.”
Jarrad Davis, the Lions rookie linebacker, was making his way out of the locker room when asked if he’d be tuning in to watch on Saturday.
“I might,” he said. “I might tune in.”
Who does he think will win?
“I don’t know,” he answered. “I’m excited to see a good fight, but right now I’m worried about the Patriots.” An answer sure to make head coach Jim Caldwell smile. Davis is all business and that’s never a bad thing.
Is Detroit’s 2017 first-round pick a fan of combat sports?
“A little bit, yeah. I love watching the UFC. If Floyd is boxing I usually watch boxing then, but mostly I watch the UFC,” said Davis, before mentioned some of his favorite fighters.
“I like McGregor, man,” Davis said. “He’s gotten really good over time. I loved to watch Anderson Silva in his time and Jon Jones too.”
Defensive end Cornelius Washington, who absolutely obliterated poor Jets quarterback Christian Hackenburg in the first quarter of the Lions’ 16-6 win over New York last week, was next to weigh in on Mayweather vs. McGregor. Like many of his other teammates, he’s siding with the 49-0 boxer.
“I got Floyd,” he said, laughing a little. “I’m going to go with Floyd, yeah.”
Washington, who signed with the Lions in March after spending his first four seasons with the Chicago Bears, elaborated on why he think’s “Money” is going to win.
“I just think it’s boxing,” he said. “It’s going to be hard for Conor McGregor to transition. But I also think if he catches him one good time it will be over with. But Floyd is very defensive. He knows how to box. He’s a prize fighter. He knows how to box. Obviously he’s the best boxer in the game right now. Those reasons I think.”
Will he be watching the fight with some of the other defensive linemen?
“We will probably do something,” said Washington. “I know none of us want to pay that $100.”
Not even on your salaries? He was asked. Washington, by the way, signed a two-year contract worth $5.8 million, which included a signing bonus of $1.5 million.
“Unh-uh,” he grunted, shaking his head. “Because it’s not worth it. Lately the fights be over so fast, especially the UFC ones they be over so fast it’s not worth the money. It’s never happened before so you don’t even know if this is going to be a good fight of not. If it is then it’s worth it. If it’s not then why waste a $100.”
Ameer Abdullah was informed of Washington not wanting to fork over the $100 to watch, and proceeded to rip his teammate for it.
“These dudes are out of control,” said Abdullah, in an incredulous tone. “$100 bucks man. The stuff I see these dudes pay for their book bags, they can’t pay $100 bucks for it? I don’t know what kind of book bag Cornelius Washington is wearing but I’ve seen some $4,000 book bags on this team. If you can’t pay $100 for a fight of a lifetime, come on bro.”
The third-year running back sees no issue in slapping down $100 to watch on pay-per-view.
“I think it’s worth it,” Abdullah said. “I mean, all the marketing they’ve done. Who knows? McGregor might knock him out, who knows? You don’t want to miss that.”
Abdullah had an interesting take on the sport of boxing as a whole, calling it “too subjective” in regards to how fights are judged. Having a fighter from MMA go into boxing makes for a “fun fight,” he said.
His prediction?
“I think it goes the distance because I don’t really think Mayweather will knock him out,” Abdullah explained. “And if it doesn’t go the distance then I think McGregor would knock him out then. Me just knowing boxing and knowing how good of a boxer Mayweather is, it’s probably going to go the distance and it’s going to be a split decision, probably Mayweather.”
Last to weigh in on the fight was Anthony Zettel. The second-year defensive end used to cross train in MMA when he was at Penn State and is a fan of former UFC welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre, who recently came out of retirement.
Zettel thinks McGregor can do some damage if he connects.
“I think Conor has a fighting chance against Floyd, especially going with eight-ounce gloves,” said Zettel. “He’s got the opportunity if he catches him to knock him out or stun him.”
The fight will be held at a weight of 154 pounds. Normally at that weight fighters use 10-ounce gloves, but the Nevada State Athletic Commission made a special exception and voted to change the glove size to eight ounces for the bout between Mayweather and McGregor.
Despite the fact that Mayweather has fought with eight-ounce gloves for the majority of his career, Zettel still thinks the glove size gives McGregor–who uses four-ounce gloves in MMA–a big advantage.
“Yeah, but at the same time, Conor is an elite striker,” he said. “I mean the fight favors Floyd by a lot, but you can never count out an elite striker out like Conor.”
Who will he be pulling for?
“I’m rooting for Conor just because I like the sport of UFC a little better, but I think Floyd’s got all the advantage,” Zettel said. “It’s what he’s done for 20 years so, but it will be interesting.”
With the game against the Patriots scheduled for Friday, Zettel said he and some teammates “we’ll be watching.”
“It’s kind of cool how it all worked out,” he added. “It will be interesting.”
Interesting indeed.
The odds are against the fight–that’s been talked about for almost two years, with constant main-stream coverage that’s ballooned to gargantuan proportions since being made official in June– being able to live up to the hype. But whether or not Mayweather and McGregor turn in a classic or lay an egg inside T-Mobile Arena on August 26, they’ve already succeeded in getting casual fans interested and athletes in major sports to pay close attention and tune in on Saturday. Well, those that want to pay $100 to watch it anyways.