Saturday, August 26

4AM Irish Time

We got up in the middle of the night to see Charles and Di marry, now they're waiting up on the other side of the ocean to watch America host Mayweather v. McGregor:
Conor McGregor, 29, has revealed he first targeted a fight with Floyd Mayweather before he had even established himself in the UFC.
The Irishman on Saturday makes his professional boxing debut when he faces Mayweather at Las Vegas' T-Mobile Arena.
He does so as the UFC's greatest asset, but enters a fight that could prove hugely uncompetitive even if it pays McGregor his greatest ever purse.
"Four years ago I fought in London at The Forum in front of about 500 people. Now here I am about to quadruple my net worth with one half a fight. Sign me up. No one is going to kick, knee or elbow. And it’s against this little b****."
...
In the first stop of a four-city media tour promoting the fight, Mayweather told the 20,000-strong crowd in Los Angeles: "I don't care if it's a ring or it's an octagon, I will kick ass. I don't back down for anybody.

"You line them up and I will knock them down. On August 26, I'm gonna knock this b**** out too."

McGregor retorted: "You haven't knocked anyone out in about 20 years."
...
"I am honoured to be here, to give you this spectacle," McGregor said. "His little legs, his little core, his little head, I am going to knock him out inside four rounds, mark my words.
Saturday's match-up has gradually been building for the past two years as interest grew in the rivalry between the two biggest figures in their respective codes.
However, even though only a year ago a fight between them appeared little more than a fantasy, for McGregor it has almost been part of a grand plan.
As a young, raw, little-known fighter in Ireland he admired Mayweather from afar and was influenced by the American's criticism of MMA.
The 40-year-old has long been the world's leading boxer, significantly before his opponent became a professional a fighter, and McGregor said: "Originally that's what woke me up. I was a young kid listening to him talk down about the sport that I was dedicating my entire life to.
"I'm talking years back, me as a kid.  Then I realised we're a similar weight, that was when he first came on my radar. I said, 'You know what, I'm going to climb up, and I'm going into different disciplines, I will get that fight'.
"Throughout time I rose up - I'm a multiple weight champion - and then it turns out he was the one who came to me. Perfect."