Never mind the fighters, listen to the money men.
Showtime TV boss Stephen Espinoza had the stage
to himself in Las Vegas last night as the media
waited for Floyd Mayweather and Conor McGregor's
delayed appearance at their final pre-fight news
conference.
"The two biggest fight figures in sports, the two
biggest personalities," he claimed.
"This will be the widest distributed pay-per-view in
history."
It's estimated 50 million people may watch in the
USA alone, with some projections indicating
Mayweather could make more than £150m and mixed
martial arts fighter McGregor more than £75m.
When the fighters themselves did get to speak, they
were restrained, verging on the polite and respectful,
in stark contrast to their expletive-laden promotional
tour last month.
Mayweather 'retired' two years ago and is older
than his opponent
"He's the best at what he do, I'm the best at what I
do," Mayweather said.
A cynic might almost think this was because no
further sales pitch is necessary.
It's all about the money.
Well, almost.
Most observers assume the meeting of an unbeaten
multiple weight world boxing champion and an
interloper from another sport making his first
professional appearance in a boxing ring can only end
one way.
Except that Mayweather (49 fights, 49 wins) is, at 40,
11 years older. He "retired" two years ago.
So confident is his Irish opponent of upsetting the
odds that he hasn't brought in a boxing specialist to
help his training, believing his existing team have all
the knowledge required.
Conor McGregor is confident of upsetting the
odds this weekend
"I will put pressure on him and break this old man,"
McGregor told the news conference.
"Trust me on that.
"I don't see him lasting two rounds."
We shall see.
In the early hours of Sunday morning one of the two
will be seriously embarrassed, albeit richer.
The bigger question is whether the paying public will
be embarrassed to have played their small part.
Freak show or sporting spectacle?
The figures suggest plenty will take the gamble on
the Saturday late show in the ultimate gambler's
paradise delivering something worth seeing.
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