Well, the deal is finally locked up.

This past week, it was finally announced that boxer Floyd “Money” Mayweather Jr. will take on Ultimate Fighting Championship star Conor McGregor in a fight Aug. 26 in Las Vegas, a showdown two years in the making. According to UFC president (and former Hermon resident) Dana White, the bout will be a 12-round boxing match, with 10-ounce gloves and a weight limit of 154 pounds. It will be shown on Showtime pay-per-view.

This bout is widely popular with fight fans and non-fight fans alike. It’s destined to make millions upon millions of dollars, likely giving Mayweather more than his reported $250 million payday that he received for his May 2015 fight against Manny Pacquiao, which shattered buy rate records.

It’s also destined to be the biggest scam in the history of boxing.

I understand that, in the fight game, that’s a big statement. I still remember back in my childhood seeing former heavyweight champion Mike Tyson make his comeback from his prison sentence for rape, winning pay-per-view fights within mere minutes over total pushovers like Peter McNeeley and Buster Mathis Jr., easily winning the World Boxing Council title over Frank Bruno and the World Boxing Association title from Bruce Seldon. Though Tyson was the heavy favorite in each fight, he and promoter Don King made millions from fans who wanted to simply see Tyson beat the living tar out of inadequate opponents.

At that time, fans at least knew what they were getting themselves into. They wanted to see destruction, not a back-and-forth classic like the Micky Ward-Arturo Gatti trilogy (if you haven’t seen them, YouTube it, you’ll thank me later. There’s a reason Ward eventually had a movie made about him).

In the instance of Mayweather-McGregor, fans actually believe this could be the fight of the century. For years, fight fans have wondered how boxing’s best would do against the UFC’s best. Since the sports are similar but different, how could such a fight take place? Now there’s an opportunity to see it.

But this is going to fail miserably, for multiple reasons. Mayweather is 40 — well past his prime — and hasn’t fought in 23 months. He was last in the ring in September of 2015, when he beat Andre Berto by points. Aside from his massive payday, Mayweather has the chance to end his career a perfect 50-0. At the moment, he’s 49-0, with 26 wins coming by way of knockout.

Mayweather — in my opinion — is the greatest defensive fighter of all-time. Even not in his prime, he’s supremely quick and can dance his way out of any situation in the ring. It’s a strategy that worked against Pacquiao — a fight that took years to negotiate was supposed to save boxing and instead ended as a total dud. Pacquiao — who was also past his prime — landed only 19 percent of his punches in that fight, and Mayweather ended up winning by decision.

Mayweather may not be in optimal condition for the fight, but he won’t have to against a boxing novice like McGregor (21-3).

While striking is his best skill set as a mixed martial artist, that doesn’t mean McGregor — the only fighter in UFC history to hold titles in two different divisions — is a pure boxer. He’s aggressive — more aggressive than Pacquiao was in Mayweather’s previous fight — but McGregor will have to work on a solid attack strategy. He will also physically have to prepare himself to last 12 rounds. UFC fighters can go as far as five rounds.

McGregor represents the underdog in the fight, as many give him no shot to win. A southpaw, McGregor will have to rely on a lucky, solid punch on Mayweather early to win. He doesn’t have a prayer if it goes the distance, as Mayweather will dance and jab his way to victory via judge’s decision.

The most striking revelation of this fight for me came from White — an anomaly in the fact that he’s a promoter who is brutally honest — did not defend the quality of the fight on ESPN’s SportsCenter, simply defending it by saying “It’s the fight the fans want to see.”

Of course, there may already be a gentleman’s agreement between the two, secretly, that they will go the distance, with Mayweather letting McGregor get some jabs in, and they can both go home with egos intact, counting their millions.

Will that make it the fight of the century? Far from it. It will only send fans home disappointed, much in the exact way they went home disappointed from the Mayweather-Pacquiao fight. And both men in that fight were boxers.

That’s not to say it won’t be entertaining. The press conference will be must-see. Both are the best in their sport at talking trash. The front row at fight night will be littered with athletes and celebrities of all sorts.

Entertaining, yes. But count me among the group that will not be dropping my hard-earned money on this train wreck. I’m still waiting for the next boxing classic.

Dave Dyer — 621-5640

ddyer@centralmaine.com

Twitter: @Dave_Dyer

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