On Wednesday, Floyd Mayweather and Conor McGregor announced that the much anticipated fight between the two men will finally happen. After the news was announced, Las Vegas oddsmakers didn’t waste time putting up betting odds for the Mayweather vs McGregor fight. Mayweather opened as a -1100 favorite, but is now a -600 favorite.
The fighters, along with UFC president Dana White told the media that the fight has been scheduled to take place at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas on August 26.
The super fight, which is expected to produce one of the biggest paydays for both fighters, has been in the works for over a year but didn’t start gaining steam until earlier this year. As expected, MMA fighters and boxers have varying opinions on what will happen.
Artem Lobov, McGregor’s friend and camp mate, believes McGregor will surprise Mayweather with his strength and reach. Lobov also argued that Mayweather hasn’t fought any significant fighters in the past few years.
Lobov added that while the Manny Pacquiao fight was a big name fight for Mayweather, Mayweather waited until five years after Pacquiao’s prime to fight him, which would have made a lot of sense if Mayweather wasn’t older than Pacquiao.
In the interview, Lobov said Mayweather’s fighting style is tailor made for McGregor because Mayweather clinches a lot when he is fighting, which he feels will be an advantage for McGregor, who is a world class wrestler and should be able to tire out Mayweather if they clinch during the fight.
Despite his belief that McGregor will win the fight, Lobov said he respected Mayweather, who held belts in multiple weight classes before he retired in 2015. Lobov said he respects Mayweather’s competitive spirit, especially since he is willing to get in to the ring with a much younger fighter like McGregor.
Former middleweight champion Carl Froch also weighed in on the fight. According to Froch, the fight is a circus show because McGregor doesn’t have a chance to win the fight. Froch isn’t the first boxer to give McGregor no chance of winning because he doesn’t have a boxing background.
Froch said while McGregor is a good boxer when it comes to fighting in the UFC, he doesn’t stand a chance against Mayweather, who makes good boxers look ordinary when he fights them. He also added that there is no way McGregor can out box a fighter like Mayweather.
Despite his belief that McGregor doesn’t have a chance, Froch said Mayweather’s age and the fact that he hasn’t been in the ring in almost two years can work against him. Even then, Froch still sees the fight as nothing more than a sparring practice for Mayweather, who might be working his way back into shape to setup another super fight with many Pacquiao.
Froch, like many in the boxing industry, feels McGregor needs some time to polish his boxing skills before getting into the ring with a fighter of Mayweather’s caliber. However, since this is likely going to be the biggest payday he has ever received, he can hardly be faulted for going forward with the fight.
Even if he fails to defeat Mayweather like Lobov predicted, he is still one of the greatest MMA fighters in the world.
David Strauss, Line Manager:
“Odds for the Mayweather vs McGregor fight have been available weeks before the announcement, and while we took some early bets on Connor, the action on McGregor has been incredible since the fight was officially set. We are sure that it will get even bigger in the weeks preceding the fight” says David Strauss, line manager at MyBookie.ag online sportsbook.
