The Mega Event Of The Summer

BY SCOTT MORGANROTH

It's very hard to not talk about what event will take place on August 26, 2017 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, NV.

Would I dare to call the Conor McGregor vs Floyd Mayweather The Fight Of The Century?

Absolutely Not!

But I will say this, it will be a huge payday for those involved.

There is no doubt that McGregor and Mayweather will earn hefty paydays for the bout.

The asking price for the right to be the title sponsor for the upcoming Mega Main Event between Mayweather and McGregor has been set at $10 Million.

That eight-figure sum nets the sponsor a logo in the middle of the ring, as well as branding the ring girls, two of the ropes, and the two non-fighter corners of the rings. The sponsor will also be featured in the first minute of every round.

WWE-IMG is also offering $5 Million each for the fighter corners, which entails signage and a presence on the broadcast corner camera.

In total, the $20 Million would be the largest ever for a fight, according to ESPN's Darren Rovell.

None of these numbers even include what this fight will cost on pay-per view.

I know I won't pay this astronomical fee because I'll be going on My Honeymoon to Hawaii, and also attending My Niece Brooke's Wedding. So there is a good chance many of us will watch this together somewhere in paradise.

The last time I bought a fight was on June 28, 1997 when Mike Tyson bit off part of Evander Holyfield's Ear and was disqualified from the match and lost his boxing license.

I paid $50 to watch a bizarre piece of history for all the wrong reasons.

But when you look at this fight as a whole, I'm glad that this is taking place.

First of all, all you'll have going on in late August is the MLB Regular Season and the NFL Pre-Season.

The promoters were smart by not setting the contest during the pennant chase for MLB in September. The timing will liven up the summer just before Labor Day. Plus, the NFL Regular Season will be underway.

I can only imagine what the ticket prices will be for this match. Fans better have deep pockets to attend this fight.

UFC President Dana White was smart when he didn't stand in the way and worked with McGregor to get his most valuable fighter a chance to get the biggest payday of his life.

Forget the fact that Mayweather is 49-0 and looking to improve to 50-0 with a win and McGregor would love nothing better to give him his first loss.

Over the next several weeks there will be more opinions about why this fight should or shouldn't have taken place. There will be so many predictions about who will win this fight.

However, I'm going to take a philosophical approach about what to expect in this crossover bout between MMA and Boxing.

McGregor has everything to gain and nothing to lose.

Many experts don't feel he belongs in the same ring with Mayweather, therefore in the eyes of many, nobody expects him to win.

But I believe that anything can happen when two fighters are in the ring.

There have been no shortage of upsets in boxing through the years.

Two that standout include Muhammad Ali defeating George Foreman and Buster Douglas defeating Tyson.

What I'm saying is if McGregor lands one devastating punch that hits Mayweather in the wrong place, Mayweather will drop to 49-1.

I do believe that defensive style and experience of Mayweather will be more than enough to defeat McGregor and he'll be 50-0.

But what if McGregor wins?

Will this open up the floodgates for more of these crossover matches to take place?

I would definitely say yes, and these promoters will work with White to create more bouts.

Where there is cash, there is opportunity and there will be no shortage of sponsors and television opportunities. After all, it's all about Entertainment!

Will McGregor take the Rocky Underdog approach and feel that he was competitive by going the distance with Mayweather, thus earning him a moral victory?

Definitely!!


So for all of those critics that are opposed to this fight, my advice to them is ride a mule in the Kentucky Derby because they're a bunch of clowns.

Mayweather has been a great champion in Boxing because he doesn't dodge opponents and will fight anyone.

All the money he's made is well deserved and he's an outstanding business man!

He's a future Hall of Fame Inductee.

When I was growing up, there were boxing matches all the time in all divisions.

Who can forget Joe Frazier, Ken Norton, Sugar Ray Leonard, Marvin Hagler, Thomas

Hearns and many others?

Nowadays, fans can't identify Boxers anymore.

Chuck Liddell, who I'm with in the photo put MMA on the map, and now the sport is thriving thanks to the work of Dana White and it's gaining more and more respect by the minute.

So when I look at the Mayweather vs McGregor fight in perspective, whether Conor gets tattooed by Mayweather or Conor pulls off a major upset, I still will refuse to call this Event The Fight Of The Century,

It's definitely going to be one Huge Mega Event that is worth watching and talking about for years to come.

Entertainment is what this is all about!

This fight came together because the public wanted it and everybody worked together to make it happen.

So Let's Enjoy The Mega Event Of The Summer.

If by chance Mayweather were to lose this fight, can you imagine what a rematch would be worth?

So we'll just let our imaginations run wild about what the sequel would be like as many folks in the Boxing Industry experienced during the sport's heyday for many years.

Scott Morganroth can be reached at www.scottsports33.com and is a member of the Detroit Sports Broadcasters Association.

UFC VS BOXING

BY SCOTT MORGANROTH

On Saturday Night, I was channel surfing and stumbled onto FOX's presentation of the UFC.

There was a familiar voice from the past as former Detroit Red Wings Play-By-Play Announcer Mike Goldberg was calling the action. Up to this point, my only familiarity with the UFC was meeting legendary fighter Chuck Liddell at the Super Bowl in Miami a few years ago. Otherwise, I knew nothing about this sport.

After watching three matches Saturday Night, I probably still know very little but came away totally impressed with these athletes. To get kicked in the head, choked, head butted and punched in the face, I can understand why the fights were limited from 3-5 rounds and last five minutes.

The punishment these fighters take is amazing. After what I saw Saturday Night, if a boxer were to enter the octagon, I wouldn't give them much of a chance because of the quicker pace and additional skill level of mixed martial arts, boxing and wrestling all rolled into one.

But as impressed as I am about the sport, which is here to stay, the only thing the UFC does lack is the History Of Boxing.

The UFC realizes that as it lacks the tradition and name recognition that boxing has.

Fighters like Joe Louis, Rocky Marciano, Joe Frazier, Muhammad Ali, George Foreman, Sugar Ray Leonard, Marvin Hagler, Sugar Ray Robinson,  Mike Tyson, Roberto Duran, Sonny Liston, Evander Holyfield, Lennox Lewis, etc... gave the ring plenty of proud moments. I remember when boxing matches lasted 15 rounds before they changed to 12 because of the brain injuries.

I'm amazed how the UFC generates large audiences for their pay-per-view events. Boxing can thank Tyson for his pay-per-view revenues. After watching the excitement Saturday Night in front of a packed United Center in Chicago, I can see how they generate the revenue through pay-per-view.

I would never order a pay-per-view UFC event because I would rather use the $50 for gas to take a trip to Clearwater Beach, Key West, Sarasota, Orlando and Daytona, Florida.

But this weekend, the UFC did earn my respect as a fan and thanks to their relationship with FOX, a free event gave them much needed exposure.

Boxing built it's audience this way for years with ABC, NBC and CBS broadcasting weekly fights on the weekend.

The reason for boxing's demise is there are too many champions in too many weight divisions. Fighters are not as hungry as they used to be because of the large payouts and rarely fight. There aren't many good American fighters for the public to follow. There are not enough major fights to keep the sport in the news plus, the public is looking for the next heavyweight which it would recognize and dominate.

The UFC expects its best fighters to perform regularly and is taking advantage of boxing's decline. More power to the UFC.

Boxing's promoter's let politics and money get in the way of creating the mega fights the public wants to see. That's why the UFC is knocking out boxing and will continue to in the future unless things drastically change.

However, my heart still belongs to boxing since that's what I grew up following my whole life.

My photo portfolio includes Ali, Leonard, James Toney and legendary trainer Angelo Dundee. There are a lot of championships with this group.

Scott Morganroth can be reached at scottsports33@aol.com and his blog can be seen at www.scottsports33.com.