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Where Do We Go From Here? Boxing, MMA Look To The Future Following Megafight

Saturday night's Floyd Mayweather Jr.-Conor McGregor fight for now "appears to be a one-off event," and with no rematch anticipated, the sports of boxing and MMA will "likely go back to tending their own fan bases and own interests," according to Rick Maese of the WASHINGTON POST. The principals in the two sports "seemed eager to move past Saturday's big show." Boxing purists are "eagerly looking forward" to Canelo Alvarez-Gennady Golovkin on Sept. 16, and UFC is "eager for fight fans to talk about MMA" (WASHINGTONPOST.com, 8/27). Mayweather following the fight announced his latest retirement, and YAHOO SPORTS' Kevin Iole wrote with him "exiting the scene, there is a massive hole" for boxing to fill. Alvarez is "clearly the biggest draw now that Mayweather has retired." There are "many great and talented fighters, but not many who sell" tickets or PPVs. That reality, coupled with promoters' "notoriously short-sighted attitudes in which they look at everything as one-off and rarely invest in the sport long-term, has to be haunting" (SPORTS.YAHOO.com, 8/27). In Las Vegas, Ed Graney wrote no one can "deny the level of worldwide enthusiasm Saturday delivered." Boxing has "never been dead" and perhaps it even "gained more popularity with Mayweather-McGregor." It was a "crazy scene ... from beginning to end." Graney: "It was great, great theater" (LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL, 8/27). The N.Y. POST's Willis writes the fight was "entertaining from the very beginning" and Mayweather and McGregor brought a "lot of attention to their respective sports" (NYPOST.com, 8/27).

STICK TO THE OCTAGON, PLEASE: UFC President Dana White said he prefer McGregor not box again and instead fight more MMA contests. White said, "This isn't what he does. He's a mixed martial artist where he uses all of his weapons, and (on Saturday) he was only allowed to use his hands. ... I don't think there's anything else left to prove. I would rather he fight mixed martial arts.” White also downplayed the concern that the size of McGregor’s purse from this fight would cause problems in future UFC negotiations. He said, "If our fights do what the buys did here (Saturday) at the gate, we'll all be good. Trust me, nobody will be bitching about anything.” White was unsure if Mayweather-McGregor would result in more UFC fans, saying, "The way that I look at fights and the way that I look at fighting is we're going to have fights that we put on that are for the hardcore UFC fans. We're going to have some fights that will do better, and some fights that are big." He added, "It takes two very special people in the right place at the right time to do the freakish kind of numbers and the water cooler talk and all the things that this fight had. You got to have the right people and the right places and the right time” (“SportsCenter,” ESPN, 8/27).

RING RETURN NOT OUT OF THE QUESTION: ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith does not believe McGregor will become a full-time boxer following Saturday's fight. However, he said, "Let's say he decided that he wanted to go into the ring against Canelo Alvarez or somebody like that. You would want to see it. It wouldn't be $100 million (payout), but might be $50 million. And guess what? That's considerably more than the $3-5 million payday that you get in the UFC." Smith: "This guy is box office and he can justify it, not just for himself but for the UFC. The other fighters out there can't do that because they are not box office” (“SportsCenter,” ESPN, 8/27).

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