Floyd Mayweather Jr. Defeats Conor McGregor With A 10th-Round TKO

Floyd Mayweather Jr. isn’t called “Money Mayweather” without reason. He was enjoying a retirement well into its second year, had an impressive roster of boxers under his Mayweather Promotions brand, and had grossed about $500 million in his 21-year career, according to Forbes. The only reason to come out retirement would be for a purse of a lifetime.

So when a rivalry with mixed martial arts champion and larger-than-life personality Conor McGregor was manufactured online, money came calling. Mr. Mayweather, 40, and 49-0 before last night’s fight, was expected to earn well over $200 million as the victor of the fight. The bout had also built hype like no other boxing match before it.

Yet, for those who predicted that the fight would be over soon after it started, they wagered wrong. Mr. McGregor — a professional boxer for the first time — delivered some awkward yet effective, slapping punches in the early rounds. But by the middle rounds and onward, Mr. Mayweather took decisive control of the fight with some commanding right-handed punches, many of which landed squarely on Mr. McGregors’s face.

Mr. Mayweather won the bout in the 10th round with a technical knockout (TKO), after the referee decided he had seen enough of Mr. Mayweather’s bomb-like punches staggering Mr. McGregor, who had not responded with a swing of his own in about a minute — even as he staggered across the stage with every punch. Mr. Mayweather left the ring a lot richer and with a record-setting 50-0. Mr. McGregor, who is estimated to earn over $100 million, left the bout 0-1 (yes, that’s correct).

The fight lasted about 36 minutes, well over Mr. McGregor’s fight average in the U.F.C. of 25 minutes. According to Mr. Mayweather, the plan all along was to wear Mr. McGregor out. “Our game plan was to take our time, go to him, let him shoot his shots early and then take him out down the stretch,” he said.

Never before had a mix martial arts fighter stood to earn so much money in a fight, far less as a first-time boxer. But this was no ordinary match-up. Before last night, Mr. McGregor had 21 wins, 3 losses, zero draws and 18 knockouts; his competitor was the best boxer in his generation. And Mr. McGregor was not a shy opponent, either, bragging about ending the fight with a knockout by the fourth round in a wave of promotional events.

Yet while he did not win the fight, fans and boxing analysts in their summation said Mr. McGregor had won a moral victory. Mr. Mayweather agreed with that assessment.

“I think we gave the fans what they wanted to see,” Mr. Mayweather said in the ring after beating McGregor. “I owed them for the Pacquiao fight. I had to come straight ahead and give the fans a show. That’s what I gave them.”

About Mr. McGregor, Mr. Mayweather said, “He’s a lot better than I thought he was. He used different angles, but I was the better man. It was our gameplan to take our time and take him out down the stretch.”

For Mr. McGregor, an actual knockout would have been preferable, arguing that he had more fight left in him. “I turned him into a Mexican. What can I say, I had a bit of fun over this side. I thought it was close. I get a bit wobbly when I’m tired. there was a lot on the line and I should have been allowed to continue. Early on I was handy enough. He was composed, fifty pro fights will give you that,” he said. “I’ve been strangled on live TV and let it go. But f— it, it was a great buzz. The man should have let me go, let the man put me down. It was fatigue and I get wobbly. Let me wobble back to my corner. You’ve got to put me down. Happy to perform for a different crowd and to be here draped in the flag.”

Referees, however, are concerned about the safety of fighters, and if there’s no response from an opponent who is being hammered with solid, disorienting punches, they usually call off the bout. That was the case last night.

Will Mr. McGregor return to the boxing ring? It’s a question he left open. But as for Mr. Mayweather, the king of the ring in his generation, Saturday night was the last fans would see of him in professional boxing.

“I want to thank all the fans from Ireland and all the fans around the world for coming to see this event,” Mr. Mayweather said. “I couldn’t do any of this without the fans.

“This was my last fight tonight. For sure.”