Is that a window of opportunity opening up for Conor McGregor?

By now, you probably know that UFC lightweight champion Conor McGregor will box Floyd Mayweather Jr. on Aug. 26 in Las Vegas, Nev. You probably also know that a healthy majority of boxing and MMA fans believe McGregor has little to no chance to upend Mayweather’s legendary undefeated streak. But yesterday, Mayweather and McGregor held the first of their four-day, four-city, three-country media tour to promote the upcoming bout and Mayweather revealed what could be considered a glimmer of hope for McGregor fans: everything is much harder than he anticipated.

“I’m not the same fighter I was 21 years ago,” Mayweather said in his MayMac World Tour press conference. “I’m not the same fighter I was 10 years ago. I’m not even the same fighter I was two years ago. I understand that but I have that fighter’s mentality. But this will - I spoke to Al [Haymon, Mayweather’s manager]. Today we had a meeting and I can’t push my body [anymore]. It’s grueling. Training camp is grueling. I can’t do it anymore. It’s rough. Training camp is rough. I’m just going to the gym, working hard everyday and it’s rough. This has to be my last one.

“After taking a couple years off, I was okay but then we end up somehow making this fight happen and now I really know that this is it. Deep in my heart, this is it. I can’t.”

Mayweather turned 40 years old this year and has been out of competitive boxing since September 2015. In McGregor, he’s facing a hard-hitting athlete in his prime who, while never having boxed professionally before, is still 11 years his junior. At the very least, Mayweather’s physical decline may make for a more even contest as Mayweather admits he’s been taking a much more relaxed approach to his training camp for this fight than he normally does, in order to offset the stress on his body.

“I’m taking a lot of time off. I’m letting my body rejuvenate. Letting my body heal just to make sure that before I go out there to compete, whether it’s in the boxing gym or in that squared circle, I want to make sure that my body is as close to 100 percent as possible so I’ve been letting my body do a lot of resting. I’ve been doing a lot of resting this training camp whereas other training camps I really wasn’t resting as much.”

Could all this add up to one of the most improbable upsets in combat history? Mayweather is still confident, reasserting that he may not be the same fighter but he “still has enough to beat [McGregor],” but he also admits that Father Time is undefeated and there’s the chance McGregor will be the one to deliver his message.

“He does have a chance. Every time two warriors go out there and compete, anything can happen. We just saw a week ago, two weeks ago, a guy who started boxing at 18, a teacher, beat one of the best fighters of all time, Manny Pacquiao. So anything can happen in a combat sport.”

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MUST-READ STORIES

$$$. Dana White admits McGregor may not return to MMA after Mayweather fight.

F**k off. Conor reacts to Mayweather’s statements from the L.A. press conference.

Tax. Floyd Mayweather addresses his tax situation at L.A. press conference.

Out of it. Showtime Executive says Mayweather was “a little out of character” at the press conference.

Results. Dana White’s Tuesday Night Contender Series debuted with two fighters earning contracts.

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VIDEO STEW

Dana video blogging the event.

Conor and Dana.

Lobov interview.

Conor on TMZ.

Dana interview post DWTNCS fights.

Dana on Undisputed.

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LISTEN UP

The Co-Main Event. The fellas discuss the weekend in fighting.

Believe You Me. Bisping discusses Romero and the Cuban flag incident.

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SOCIAL MEDIA BOUILLABAISSE

The biggest thing from the presser.

Conor.

Nate weighs in.

What, y’all thought Floyd was gonna have this be even? Come on now. He’s running the show.

At this point, sure. Why not?

This guy is a building an entire career off this.

The story that’s under the radar.

And T-Ferg going in on him.

Yoel’s hashtag game is strong.

Mentor.

#wouldwatch

Snoop already changing the game.

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FIGHT ANNOUNCEMENTS

Ricky Palacios (8-1) vs. Chris Avila (5-4); Combate Clasico, July 27.

Marcelo Rojo (11-4) vs. Billy Molina (5-3); Combate Clasico, July 27.

Alberto Morales (3-0) vs. Jonathan Quiroz (2-2); Combate Clasico, July 27.

Irvin Rivera (5-3) vs. Chine Duran (8-9); Combate Clasico, July 27.

Joey Ruquet (2-1) vs. Vinney Pantaleon (1-1); Combate Clasico, July 27.

Rafael Carvalho (14-1) vs. Alessio Sakara (19-11, 2 NC); Bellator, December 9.

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TODAY IN MMA HISTORY

1996: UFC Hall of Famer Mark Coleman made his UFC debut, winning the eight-man tournament by defeating Don Frye in the finals. This event also was the debut of BRuce Buffer as the in-ring announcer.

2015: Stephen Thompson knocked out Jake Ellenberger with a spinning hook kick at The Ultimate Fighter 21 Finale.

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FINAL THOUGHTS

A lot of discussion after the presser yesterday centered around “Who won?” and I’d like to jump in.

They both won. Both men have convinced everyone, sheerly by willing it to be so, that this matters and that they should pay to see it. Both will make millions upon millions of dollars for a thing that has almost no relevance to either boxing or MMA beyond it being branded as “the money fight.” This fight will not determine the best boxer alive nor the best fighter nor whether boxing is superior to MMA. The only thing it will determine is how comfortably those two men live the rest of their lives, something both would do exceedingly well regardless. Both of them won.

But if you really insist on a meta-analysis, Floyd wins because Floyd always wins. Because whatever Conor says about Floyd the fact remains, Floyd is the A-side. Floyd is in charge. Floyd has the power to cut Conor’s mic. Floyd made Conor come to him and he did. Even if Floyd is actually dead ass broke (which is most likely exceedingly untrue) after this fight he will still be worth more than Conor and that’s the only ground these two can functionally meet on. Yes, Conor would murder him in a real fight. Conor would also win a spelling contest and a host of other things that Floyd doesn’t care about and, conversely, Floyd would win equally as many things Conor doesn’t care about. The only common ground is money and Floyd has Conor over a barrel there. But again, it doesn’t matter. They are both the winners.

Take it easy y’all and Conor bless.

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