Official Conor McGregor thread (part 3) *Updated Warning in 1st Post Re:Boxing match

Hope Mayweather loses just for that tracksuit he wore alone.

weldoninhio wrote: »

If I was looking at how not to put on an event of any sort, the UFC Dublin press conference would be my bible.

Drunk louts screaming and shouting constantly and getting mic time to do it!!

I agree that went a bit too far in integrating the audience into the show.

Sofiztikated wrote: »

Then at least put the effort in. Big payday, and he's half arsing it?

What do you want him to say ? It's going to make him millions anyway .

Review of last night!

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"When it comes to boxing, I'm the best at this" - Floyd Mayweather Jr.

Turns out, he wasn't lying.

Floyd Mayweather comfortably went 1-0 over Conor McGregor in their first press conference yet the manner of the victory reflected a fear of the Irishman in a way we've never seen from the 49-0 boxing legend.

It's not the Irish fighters much-vaunted left hand or fabled mental warfare that 'Money' has on his mind. That would be speculatively churlish and, indeed, childish to even suggest.

No, the fear is rooted in a much simpler ideation and grounded in fact - I'll get to that later.

From start to finish, the first press event was a meticulously executed ambush by The Money Team and Showtime, drawing more parallels to 'Heat' than to 'Rocky'.

When the 'Notorious' strolled to the stage to a chorus of deafening cheers, it probably felt like business as usual to him. Despite a plethora of American opponents on American soil in his career, McGregor has always managed to transpose himself onto 'home territory'. Patriotic American wrestler Chad Mendes roundly booed at every turn. Philadelphia's own Eddie Alvarez derided in New York a mere 2 hours from his home.

He may as well be fighting in Dublin.

Eight minutes later, McGregor was still on stage - by himself. For a man normally accustomed to owning every stage he steps on with a visceral intensity, those minutes were cringe-inducingly alien to him. It visually looked like your uncle at a wedding told to get on stage to give a speech and sheepishly hovering around waiting for the band to finish playing while the cool kids danced. Trying to act hip with the latest tunes. Awkward shuffles reflecting embarrassed uncertainty. Prolonged looks to the crowd for re-affirmation.

Conor McGregor, showman extraordinaire of the UFC, looked like a shy boy lost on that stage waiting for his mom to come rescue him.

His speech reflected the eight minutes that preceded it. It was muted, toned down and awkward. A few quips hit the mark, taking aim at Floyd's attire and tax troubles, and a shout-out to Conor Jr. rang true. In totality, the speech was that of a man caught off-guard just throwing words into the void who wanted to sit back down again. His coach John Kavanagh has often said Conor is a shy person behind the scenes and these brief moments actually showed us he's probably right.

Cue the entrance of 'Pretty Boy', for this was no 'Money' performance. He was surrounded by an entourage that looked 20-deep and emerged from the crowd Moses-like as he parted the Green Sea of fans. He reached the stage and prowled it wearing a baggy tracksuit draped in the American flag and a cap bearing witness to his 48th victim.

His speech was pre-prepared. His cheering section was on standby. He started with a call-and-response straight out of the playbook of the late-Freddie Mercury at Live Aid, when the charismatic Queen front-man owned Wembley Stadium in ways never seen before or since.

Floyd's call-and-response on the 'easy money' was hardly Freddie and it was aimed at his small, yet vocal, section of followers but he executed it with precision. As he began his scripted remarks, the McGregor counter-attack tried to swing into full-effect. He's at his best with a microphone in his hand zinging comebacks in the direction of his opponents statements.

Before he could even get the chance at regaining his footing, Showtime cut his mic. The camera kept panning to the awkwardly smiling Irishman looking foolish talking into a dead mic.

As Floyd wrapped up his speech, he barked "it's time to face-off, get over here b1tch" and motioned for McGregor to join him. McGregor's "fcuk right off" response into a dead mic went unheard before he sheepishly joined Floyd to square off.

Floyd is the best at boxing in large parts because he strips his opponents of their best weapons. In this press conference, he reflected his in-fight-style and robbed McGregor of his.

So what does all of this mean?

Well, for one thing, we have 3 more to go. If ever 'Win or Learn' applied, it is now.

However, there is a reason for Conor to feel emboldened by the debacle of the first press event:

Floyd fears him.

Not his left hand. Not his footwork. Not his counters. Not his punching power. Not his mental warfare.

Certainly not his boxing skills.

No, it's actually a pretty simple fear.

Conor is simply more current and more popular than Floyd and that's a bitter pill to swallow for an egomaniac used to having all the numbers when he fights.

As the event was relayed around the globe on youtube and on tv stations, google searches for McGregor and tweets for McGregor were 3 times as many as for Floyd. Conor's instagram and twitter are growing at a pace that will see him overtake Floyd within months. The crowd itself at the venue, and at every venue this week, will be 95% pro-Conor.

There's every possibility Conor beats Floyd to the number 1 on the Forbes list too, within the next few years.

Floyd and Showtime choreographed this ambush to try minimize the damage to Floyd's ego. The American flag tracksuit reeked of a subtle attempt at patriotism to sway the crowd. The awkward eight minutes of Conor on his own on stage was carefully orchestrated to contrast to Floyd's entourage rolling in. Conor not being informed of a speech, and making a ham fist of it, while Floyd had one scripted. The killed microphone versus the one working calling him a b1tch.

Conor McGregor in an interview once said that he repeats 3 words to himself every single day:

"Improvise, Adapt and Overcome".

He'll need to put this into practice and quickly. For the millions watching around the world, this was their first introduction to the Irishman and they'd be forgiven for wondering what the hype is all about.

He has the chance to put that right in Toronto tonight and I fully expect him to deliver.