Dear Conor,<\/p>\n
\tI\u2019m quite comfortable writing you this letter because I know it\u2019ll intimidate you and at the same time offer a generous warning about what\u2019s going to happen when we enter the boxing ring in three weeks and all our insipid promotional talk won\u2019t matter. You aren\u2019t going to make this boy dance and I\u2019m not going to choke you till your tongue hangs to your waist. I\u2019ll let Nate Diaz choke your ass. I\u2019m going to whip it.<\/p>\n
\tHere\u2019s how it\u2019ll develop. You\u2019re going to rant and gesticulate like a doomed man as you stomp toward the ring and, though you won\u2019t know it, you\u2019ll already be tired. I\u2019ll enter the ring like a cool, undefeated champion, and feel strong and confident in my lifelong home bordered by three ropes and four ring posts. You\u2019re going to be in a strange place inhabited by distorted enemies, and you\u2019ll respond with blind energy. You\u2019ll insult me. You\u2019ll prance. You\u2019ll try to convince yourself you\u2019re all right. But as the referee gives us final instructions, you\u2019ll stand so unnaturally stiff many will assume there’s a foreign object up your ass. <\/p>\n
\tI\u2019m actually a little worried about you. I\u2019m used to fighting accomplished professional boxers, many of them champions, and I decisively beat all of them. Where does that leave you? From the opening bell you\u2019ll be desperate and attacking and throwing wild left crosses that\u2019ll miss by a city block. You\u2019re a novice boxer, Conor. You haven\u2019t had a single professional fight. Hell, you haven\u2019t had any legitimate amateur boxing matches. If I weren\u2019t going to earn more than a hundred million, enough to pay off my federal tax bill, I wouldn\u2019t insult myself or the fans by doing this.<\/p>\n
\tI\u2019m not going to worry about roars from your ignorant fans every time you whiff the Las Vegas air. They\u2019ve been waiting years and will pay thousands for bad seats here or a hundred for a place on the sofa next to beer-swilling buddies, and they\u2019ll have to celebrate when they can. They won\u2019t have long. You get tired fast, don\u2019t you? Your first fight against Nate Diaz you shouted before round two that you could fight all night. A couple minutes later you gassed and he choked and you tapped out. Granted, you improved a lot in the rematch but still sucked air in the third round and were almost punched out by a guy who\u2019s a submission fighter not a championship boxer. <\/p>\n
\tI don\u2019t know exactly when your tank\u2019s going to empty but after four, five, or six rounds, during which I\u2019ll be nailing your head every time I punch, more than any ten of your opponents combined, you\u2019re going to wilt as you learn what it means to step into a boxing ring with a great champion. Then you\u2019re going to fall. If you\u2019re lucky they\u2019ll stop it first time you taste the canvas, and prevent me from nailing you again when you\u2019re open as a heavy bag. <\/p>\n
After the fight we\u2019ll embrace. I think we already like each other a little and will feel real warmth about earning more in one night than any two athletes ever have. And I\u2019ll say something like this, \u201cGood luck in mixed martial arts where you\u2019re the champ.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cLet\u2019s do this again, but in the octagon,” you’ll say. <\/p>\n
\u201cDon\u2019t try to beat a man at his own game.\u201d<\/p>\n
Floyd<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Dear Conor, I\u2019m quite comfortable writing you this letter because I know it\u2019ll intimidate you and at the same time offer a generous warning about what\u2019s going to happen when we enter the boxing ring in three weeks and all our insipid promotional talk won\u2019t matter. You aren\u2019t going to make this boy dance and…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[58,1658,1081,275,281,1657],"tags":[],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"yoast_head":"\n