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The fight with McGregor only went 10 rounds because Floyd let it go 10 rounds. He wasn't struggling in the fight, or rusty, or not finding a way to put him away. Did anyone actually watch it or just run with the sound-byte narratives? It's like listening to people talk about politics and finding out CNN is their source.
Watch the fight again - Floyd cuffed his hands up around his own temples in a peek-a-boo stance and walked straight forward at Conor for the first 4 rounds of the fight. No shell, no slick defense, just walked straight at him with his hands up. How often have we seen Floyd do that? Can't think of one, right? Because he's never done that before. He did that to show not only his own versatility, but to show how little real boxing he was going to have to apply to tire McGregor out. And he did tire him out, all without throwing punches until about the 5th round. We heard about Conor's chin, and how he'd bully Floyd around... only when Mayweather started punching, he was snapping McGregor's head back with ease. Boxers simply can punch and take a punch better than UFC guys.
Furthermore, it was about the fans. Floyd hyped the fight up as Conor is younger, bigger, stronger; Floyd's 40, been out of the ring a long time, etc. Then he promised to make it interesting unlike his defensive fight against Pacquiao.
In other words, Mayweather dictated everything that happened that night, and chose to let it go into the 10th round before the ref mercifully stopped it. People were going to criticize boxing no matter how this turned out.
De La Hoya is a moron. His time is long over. That said, if he were in fighting shape, his style would probably have lent itself to an earlier knockout of McGregor; but again, that's not what Floyd was going for.
Watch the fight again - Floyd cuffed his hands up around his own temples in a peek-a-boo stance and walked straight forward at Conor for the first 4 rounds of the fight. No shell, no slick defense, just walked straight at him with his hands up. How often have we seen Floyd do that? Can't think of one, right? Because he's never done that before. He did that to show not only his own versatility, but to show how little real boxing he was going to have to apply to tire McGregor out. And he did tire him out, all without throwing punches until about the 5th round. We heard about Conor's chin, and how he'd bully Floyd around... only when Mayweather started punching, he was snapping McGregor's head back with ease. Boxers simply can punch and take a punch better than UFC guys.
Furthermore, it was about the fans. Floyd hyped the fight up as Conor is younger, bigger, stronger; Floyd's 40, been out of the ring a long time, etc. Then he promised to make it interesting unlike his defensive fight against Pacquiao.
In other words, Mayweather dictated everything that happened that night, and chose to let it go into the 10th round before the ref mercifully stopped it. People were going to criticize boxing no matter how this turned out.
De La Hoya is a moron. His time is long over. That said, if he were in fighting shape, his style would probably have lent itself to an earlier knockout of McGregor; but again, that's not what Floyd was going for.
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