Floyd Mayweather is officially 50-0 after a rousing 10th round TKO against UFC lightweight champion Conor McGregor.
Despite the fight serving as the first for McGregor inside a boxing ring, the Irishman made a good showing for himself, especially in the early rounds.
McGregor came out aggressive as he went after Mayweather with a barrage of punches through the first three rounds, landing several stinging punches to the head and body as the Las Vegas crowd got louder and louder with each shot landed.
Mayweather was very inactive in the opening trio of rounds, mostly playing defense as McGregor was on the attack, backing up the former multi-division champion and unloading with great confidence in every exchange.
On a couple of occasions, McGregor snapped Mayweather’s head back with a stiff right jab before following it up with shots to the body as his confidence grew with each passing minute.
Unfortunately, McGregor’s advantages started to wear away in the fourth and fifth round as Mayweather finally opened up his offense with a more and more power shots landed.
Still, McGregor was not backing away and he even managed to taunt Mayweather at different times during the fight while looking strong with his striking attacks.
Still, Mayweather showed incredible patience as he began targeting McGregor’s head with surgical precision and his right hands began landing with regularity. Mayweather hurt McGregor in the ninth round as the UFC champion started slowing down with his hands dropping and it was clear he was in danger.
Mayweather smelled blood in the water and came out looking for the kill in the 10th round as he just opened up with a huge series of punches that stunned McGregor and sent him stumbling backwards.
Punch after punch landed as McGregor was clearly hurt and backing up against the ropes with Maywather just pouring on the punishment until referee Robert Byrd saw enough and stepped in between the fighters to call a stop to the contest.
The end came at 1:05 in the 10th round.
“He’s a tough competitor,” Mayweather said after the fight. “I gave the fans what they wanted. I told them that I owed them for the [Manny] Pacquiao fight. I was coming straight ahead and give the fans a show and that’s what I gave them.”
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Following the fight, Mayweather officially announced his retirement and said that this would serve as his last time inside the squared circle as he walks away with a perfect 50-0 record.
“This was my last fight ladies and gentlemen,” Mayweather said.
As for McGregor, he didn’t look any worse for wear after the fight as he actually believed the stoppage came a little bit early as he was still on his feet during the final exchange.
“I’ve been strangled on live TV and come back. I thought we were close,” McGregor said. “It’s fatigue. Let the man put me down”
McGregor was non-committal when asked about a possible return to boxing after this fight but he did say that it was time to go back to the UFC to defend his world title. McGregor has promised that he would like to fight again before the end of the year but it’s unclear at this time whether or not that will actually happen.
For now, McGregor can walk away proud that he went 10 rounds with one of the greatest boxers of all time while Mayweather will cash another nine-figure payday as he calls it a career.
