LAS VEGAS – When the worst thing that happened to you on Saturday night in Vegas is that you got denied the right to bet $400,000 on yourself to win a fight, you had a good night.
Not everything went right for Floyd Mayweather last night … https://t.co/RxstF7obHD
— David Payne Purdum (@DavidPurdum) August 27, 2017
The "Fight of the Century" between Conor McGregor and Floyd Mayweather Jr. ended in the Mayweather victory as so many predicted. The night also produced a record night for the sportbooks around the globe, who saw historic levels of action on the fight.
Jay Rood of the MGM said it was one of their biggest boxing wins ever.
Kevin Bradley, SportsBook Manager said: "As predicted, the amount of money and bets we took on the fight well surpassed the Super Bowl, and it was our biggest wagered event ever, our biggest number of players ever, and also was our biggest single event win ever.”
But did we learn anything from this fight that can help us going forward, say when it comes to betting Canelo vs. GGG in September? What did we learn about Conor McGregor's future and will it include boxing?
While I did not get my betting picks correct for the fight, the bout did go as I thought it would. McGregor owned the first three rounds, as he was far more active and tried to hurt Floyd to end it early, but he ran out of gas in the late rounds due to his inexperience inside a boxing ring. Mayweather waited McGregor out, knowing that he would tire and not be able to defend himself once he was exhausted.
Conor McGregor after-fight photos: Boxing left; MMA right.
There's 5x the money in boxing for McGregor. What's next? https://t.co/NLFT5c4VSFpic.twitter.com/Q1vApBJlgq— Jason McIntyre (@jasonrmcintyre) August 28, 2017
As we look ahead to the next major fight here in Vegas, the general public will not be storming the betting window like they did leading up to Saturday. However, based upon the amount of action that has been reported so far, there will be a ton of money bet on this fight.
Currently, CG Technology lists GGG as a -140 favorite over Canelo Alverez (+120), and I would expect a lot of late money on Canelo as Mexican boxing fans come to Vegas for fight night. We saw some line movement on Saturday as the Irish fans bet McGregor consistently, but the sharp money on Mayweather evened that out. I think it would be wise to see where the sharps put their money on this fight because it will be far more unpredictable of a bout.
In terms of what is next for Conor McGregor, we now know that he can box. What he wants to do with that skill in very much up in the air.
So what should Conor do?
In my opinion, we won't see McGregor again in 2017. I believe he will fight Nate Diaz next spring or summer here in Vegas to complete the triology. I think that fight will also be for Conor's lightweight belt in the UFC.
Will Conor box again?
I think the answer is yes. In fact, I think Conor has opened up the door to the first real inter-sport rivalry in combat sports history, and we will see more cross-sport bouts going forward. Team UFC vs. Team Boxing could produce some very interesting fights, and Vegas would love to host them.
Mayweather-McGregor made too much money to be a one-off crossover fight. Here are five other fights that may happen. https://t.co/U1ZrI39Nfp
— Arash Markazi (@ArashMarkazi) August 28, 2017
To me, the biggest takeaway from Mayweather vs. McGregor is that the public will pay to be entertained and will pay to see something they have never seen before. Call it a circus, call it a sideshow, or call it what it was: fun.
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