Opinion: McGregor vs. Mayweather is a Joke, Right?

Editor’s note: The views and opinions expressed below are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Sherdog.com, its affiliates and sponsors or its parent company, Evolve Media.

You guys heard the joke about Floyd Mayweather Jr. fighting Conor McGregor?

That was funny, right?

Wait, you do realize it’s a joke?

I hope it’s a joke.

Please, for the love of all things combat sports, let this be a joke.

It’s been almost two weeks since the internet caught on fire with rumors about Mayweather coming out of retirement to face McGregor. As ridiculous as it sounded, everyone’s collective eyebrows raised at the thought of two of the most boisterous names in all of combat sports squaring off against one another. Obviously, this was nothing more than a rumor, but with both McGregor and (especially) Mayweather feeding into it, it appears that it’s growing some legs.

Mayweather recently suggested that McGregor is the only person he would come out of retirement for and has alluded to the possibility of the fight happening if the fans want it. Obviously, it’s going to take a lot more than Mayweather to bring this fight to life. But at least Mayweather is doing what he can to keep the spotlight on him while relaxing in retirement.

But let’s forget about whether or not this ridiculous idea will eventually come to fruition. Instead, can we focus on how uninteresting this fight would actually be? Sure, the banter between the two will be nothing short of extraordinary as Mayweather will dwarf McGregor’s bank account but the Irishman’s quick wits will keep him in the game. However, when they finally do get into the ring, this contest will be dreadful and completely lack suspense.

I’m not sure how we can justify this fight from being anything other than a one-sided bout no matter how you slice it. If it’s a boxing match, there’s no doubt that Mayweather will obliterate McGregor. And if it’s an MMA bout, McGregor should be able to roll right over Mayweather will little problem at all. There’s really nothing in the middle that could possibly make this competitive. Maybe they should dip their hands in glue and glass?

But, alas, here we are having another nonsensical boxing vs. MMA argument. The distance between the two sports is considerably wide despite the goal being to inflict harm on your opponent. But that’s about as similar as basketball and baseball if you count the fact that there’s a ball involved as a similarity.

Didn’t we already see what would happen if a boxer tries to step into an MMA fight? Yeah, James Toney was way over the hill, even by boxing standards, when he faced Randy Couture. But the end result would have been the same any way you sliced it. An MMA fight might be able to win a few rounds against a mid to low level boxer, but you can put any fighter in there with Mayweather and he will surely be outclassed in the sweet science. We aren’t talking about a “good’ boxer, we’re talking about the best boxer of our generation.

The more you think about it, the more you wonder how this makes any sense whatsoever?

Didn’t McGregor just get beat by Nate Diaz? Shouldn’t he be focused on trying to get that win back? How does losing your last fight make you a credible opponent for an unbeaten boxer? On the flipside, how the hell did a retired boxer end in a conversation about how he would do against the most popular MMA fighter? I’m just not seeing how this thing is remotely competitive.

But, of course, McGregor is a businessman and if an opportunity to make a dump truck load of money comes rolling to his front door, he’s certainly going to take it. As for Mayweather, you should already know how he has redefined boxing with his business first approach to the sport.

Even though both fighters want to win, this is nothing more than a money grab. Do you think Mayweather is entertaining this fight because he thinks McGregor is the best opponent he’s never faced? Absolutely not. This is an easy payday if it’s a boxing match. And let’s be clear, this will only happen if it’s a boxing match. McGregor will tell you that he can win but his mind will almost certainly be on the ridiculous amount of money he stands to make for a fight that only makes sense to children and those who simply don’t watch boxing or MMA.

If this match were to happen, it would be somewhere between Rocky vs. Thunderlips and Ali vs. Inoki in ridiculousness. But the only fools would be the buying public as the best jabs would be the ones thrown verbally in the buildup to the fight. By the time they step into whatever arena they are competing in, the suspense will be over and we would have aided in making this farce a reality.

Andreas Hale is the editorial content director of 2DopeBoyz.com, co-host of the boxing, MMA and pro wrestling podcast “The Corner” and a regular columnist for Sherdog.com. You can follow on Twitter for his random yet educated thoughts on combat sports, music, film and popular culture.