By Keith Idec
LAS VEGAS – Most people immersed in boxing have heavily criticized the Floyd Mayweather Jr.-Conor McGregor fight for being a complete mismatch and a shameless money grab by both participants.
Andre Ward realizes he is in the minority within the boxing community, but the undefeated light heavyweight champion is looking forward to watching Mayweather-McGregor on August 26. Ward won’t mind paying the expected price tag of $100 to see the undefeated five-division champion battle a mixed martial artist who never has participated in a professional boxing match.
“I’m gonna watch it, yeah,” Ward told a small group of reporters prior to a press conference Thursday for his light heavyweight championship rematch against Sergey Kovalev. “I’m interested in it. I look at it for what it’s worth. You always have the option to not buy it. That’s always an option. But I don’t think you should not buy it and then complain about it.
“If you don’t wanna buy it, then just watch something else that night. But I’m gonna watch the buildup because, you know, I’m a casual MMA fan, so I know about McGregor. I have my thoughts on how it will go, but I wanna see it. And then the buildup is gonna be just insane, so I’m gonna sit back [and watch it]. I’m a fight fan. I’m a combat fan. I like watching combat sports. I’m interested in it.”
While Ward is interested in watching Mayweather-McGregor, the former super middleweight champion expects Mayweather to win their 12-round, 154-pound fight convincingly.
“I mean, Floyd is supposed to [win],” Ward said. “He’s arguably one of the greatest of all time. And I just can’t wrap my brain around McGregor having any answers for Floyd, even at 40 years old. It’s just another level. There’s levels to this. But on the flip side, he’s not a guy that you can just not train for. McGregor’s a big guy, he’s got pride, he’s coming. And he’s got a dynamite left hand. He’s got a sneaky left hand, so it’s the type of situation where it’s tough.
“The pressure is really on Floyd because there’s no room for error. There’s zero room for error. And, you know, it’s gonna be tricky for McGregor not being able to take down and he’s gotta work on that stuff over the next two, three months. But the left hand is the main thing that Floyd has to watch out for. That’s like the main asset that I think McGregor brings to the table. But Floyd should take care of business and do it in fashion. But I’m still surprised they got it done. I’m shocked.”
Meanwhile, Ward (31-0, 15 KOs) is just two days away from his own pay-per-view main event. The 2004 Olympic gold medalist from Hayward, California, and Russia’s Kovalev (30-1-1, 26 KOs) will headline HBO Pay-Per-View’s four-fight broadcast Saturday night from Mandalay Bay Events Center (9 p.m. ET; 6 p.m. PT; $64.99 in HD).
Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.