Boxing is much more than Floyd Mayweather vs. Conor McGregor

Floyd Mayweather is a lot of things outside of the ring — very few of them good — but he’s the biggest star in the sport of boxing and he will always draw a crowd that includes millions who would otherwise be uninterested. That’s why there is so much hype behind his upcoming match against UFC mixed martial artist Conor McGregor, despite the fact that the fight really shouldn’t be close.

Boxing will always have its absolute stars, with room at the top for a very select few who can grab the attention of the entire sporting world for a few short moments. Those moments are when the greatest do battle, and everyone has their reasons for being interested.

The sport of boxing has so much more to offer than Mayweather. Gennady Golovkin is putting on an incredible show every time out at middleweight. Anthony Joshua just knocked out Wladimir Klitschko and is one of the most exciting heavyweights in years.

And on Saturday, two of the very best light heavyweights will fight in a rematch of one of the biggest fights of last year. Andre Ward and Sergey Kovalev fought a 12-round war that ended with a narrow decision in favor of the former in November 2016.

In Mayweather’s case, there are probably as many people who want to see him lose as there are fans. He is the best, and he’d be responsible for that divide even without out-of-ring controversy. With it, there’s a constant fever pitch surrounding the 49-0 boxer’s potential to suffer an upset.

But Mayweather is not the sport of boxing. McGregor is a great talker and a helluva MMA fighter as a multi-divisional UFC champion, but this match that everyone is talking about is not the best the sport has to offer. McGregor has a puncher’s chance, one that is significantly lessened with boxing gloves on, but not much else.

Mayweather fought Manny Pacquiao well after the fight was prime entertainment. He hasn’t been tested with legitimate competition that often in recent years, and he probably wont be tested against McGregor.

Ward was knocked down for just the second time in his career early in the fight with Kovalev, and was taken out of his comfort zone big time. Kovalev was pushed to the brink over 12 rounds. Going into that fight, the biggest criticism of both was that they weren’t being tested enough.

They tested each other well enough, and they combined for a thriller of a contest. The decision was controversial, but so close that it’s hard to take any extreme seriously. Kovalev could have won. Ward could have won. The judges went with Ward, and nobody has any idea how things are going to go in “The Rematch.”

Ward and Kovalev will meet on Saturday in the main event of an HBO Pay-Per-View card from Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas. Ward, now 31-0-0 with 15 knockouts to his name, will try and keep his record unblemished against Kovalev, who is 30-1-1 with 26 knockouts.

Kovalev’s power tested Ward’s chin early, and it forced Ward out of his rhythm for several rounds. Saturday’s contest will be a real contest of who can execute their game plan, and it should feature some of the best boxing the sport has to offer.

It is nearly guaranteed to be a better fight than Mayweather vs. McGregor. Golovkin and Canelo Alvarez will meet in September for a fight that is nearly guaranteed to be better than Mayweather vs. McGregor. Joshua’s next fight, probably a rematch with Klitschko, is nearly guaranteed to be a better fight than Mayweather vs. McGregor.

If you have enjoyed any aspect of the biggest boxing matches in limited exposure to them, you owe it to yourself to watch the best the sport has to offer and not simply the king of the castle beating on people who have no business being in the ring with him.