Floyd Mayweather has won the fight against loudmouth Conor McGregor in the 10th round, with the referee having to save the Irish challenger from further punishment.
The American now has a 50-0 record. And for his efforts, he will pocket a potential $300m (£230m).
Boxing pundits never expected the fight at T-Mobile arena in Las Vegas, United States, to go the distance, but McGregor lived up to his promise to shock the boxing world.
McGregor came out full of fury and menace but Mayweather, long regarded as the finest defensive fighter to step into the ring, left few openings and used the first three rounds to feel out his opponent.
But in the end the champion Mayweather was just too good.
The end came early in the 10th round as Mayweather landed a flurry of unreplied punches on an apparently fatigued McGregor. The referee, Robert Byrd stepped in to stop the fight to save McGregor from any more punishment.
The fight which was delayed because of pay-per-view issues started 5.14 am.
Conor McGregor had control of the first three rounds, doing most of the footwork, with his more experienced opponent Mayweather being overly cautious.
He took control in the 4th round as McGregor appeared to have tired himself out.
In round eight McGregor already looked like a man whose energy had been sapped out of him, and his punches did not cause even a flinch of pain from Mayweather, who appeared to be toying with his opponent at that moment.
Floyd Mayweather has won all 50 of his professional fights, so far.
Conor McGregor has never boxed professionally before today and won 21 of 24 MMA fights.
Whether the megafight will be the richest of all-time, as promoters predicted, is still to be determined but Mayweather has left no doubt about his place in the pantheon of boxing greats in what he said was his last fight.
The 40-year-old paid some tribute to his ‘dance partner’ McGregor, after the fight;
“He is a tough competitor and I thought we gave the fans what they wanted to see.
“He is a lot better than I thought he was, he used different angles and was a tough competitor but I was the better man tonight”.
McGregor however felt that the fight ended too early, blaming the referee: “I took the early rounds fairly handy,” he said.
“I thought it was close, I thought the stoppage was a bit early, there was a lot on the line and I thought he should have let me carry on. I was just a little fatigued. He is composed and you have got to give it to him.
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