Conor McGregor went into the 10th round against Floyd Mayweather in their much-anticipated boxing match Saturday night at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, and that’s when his lack of stamina became a real problem.
Mayweather started Round 10 with a flurry of punches, and as the UFC lightweight champion looked tired and defenseless — he could barely put his fists up — the referee decided to stop the fight, resulting in a TKO victory for “Money May.”
McGregor didn’t totally agree with the ref’s decision.
“I thought it was close, though, and I thought it was a little early on the stoppage,” McGregor said after the fight, per ESPN’s Arash Markazi. “I get a little wobbly when I’m tired. But get me in the corner and I’ll recover and I’ll come back.
“There’s a ton on the line here — he should have let me keep going until I hit the floor. I was just a little fatigued. He was a lot more composed, especially in the later parts of the fight. Early on I thought it was handy to be honest.”
McGregor was, in fact, wobbly. It was unlikely he would have recovered from the fatigue and the pounding he was taking from Mayweather. A few more seconds of action and the Irishman easily could’ve been on the floor knocked out.
The referee made the correct decision here.
But that doesn’t take anything away from McGregor’s performance. He was phenomenal, particularly in the early rounds, and few people could’ve expected him to fight as well as he did into Round 10.
Thumbnail photo via Mark J. Rebilas/USA TODAY Sports Images
