London set to host stop on Mayweather vs Mcgregor world

CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Antonio Nieves was just as shocked as many of his critics when it was announced last week that he would fight for the WBO super flyweight title on Sept Mayweather vs Mcgregor Live Streaming. 9 against champ Nagoya Inoue.

Signing for the bout was a surprise for Nieves because he has been often overlooked, despite winning 17 of his 18 bouts. But the one loss and two draws is why the haters question Nieves' legitimacy.Nevertheless, the fight is on.

Place: T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas

Date: August 26 ,2017

Watch Live Boxing PPV => Mcgregor vs Mayweather

"There were so many other fighters [Inoue] could have gone with, so I was like, 'wow, it's going down,'" Nieves said. "As far as the critics, everyone who watched my last fight knows I didn't deserve that decision. I should be 18-0 and I was clearly the winner in the two fights ruled as a draw. Sometimes you don't get the decision you deserve."

Nieves will get more than enough in champion Inoue, who is 13-0 with 11 knockouts. What he lacks in experience he makes up fully with his power.

We know you're busy with your actually job, but come on, get the finger out, Dana White.

It's fair to say that everyone is fed up of the McGregor-Mayweather talk by now, and the worst part is, the real talk hasn't even begun yet.

We are, of course, referring to the all-important money chat, and no matter how optimistic White is about the chances of this fight actually happening, until everyone gets together in the same room and discusses the terms, it's all just... well, talk.

"He's a great fighter, a sharp puncher and very well rounded," said Nieves about Inoue. "But his fights have been easy. He's never been pushed. I haven't seen anyone put him through adversity. We're going to do our best to take him out of his rhythm and take it to him."

Nieves is fighting on an incredible card which features WBC Super Flyweight World Champion Srisaket Sor Rungvisal (43-4-1, 39 KO's) who defends his title against former champion "Roman "Chocolatito" Gonzalez (46-1-0, 38 KO's) in a rematch of their epic battle this past March. The rematch headlines a tripleheader that will be televised live on HBO Boxing After Dark.Floyd Mayweather vs Mcgregor the greatest boxer of his generation, will take on UFC champion Conor McGregor on August 26 in Las Vegas.

The mega-fight, which will be contested over 12 rounds and which could generate upwards of £500million, was finally confirmed on Wednesday night following weeks of negotiations and months of speculation.

Mayweather will fight for the first time in two years at the T-Mobile Arena while McGregor will box professionally for the first time ever.

UFC president Dana White has claimed McGregor will earn $100m (£78.5m) from the fight while Mayweather is likely to pocket significantly more.Mayweather won all 49 of his professional boxing fights, bowing out with a lop-sided points win over Andre Berto in September 2015.

Now 40, the Sin City resident announced he was coming out of retirement earlier this year in order to face McGregor who is 12 years his junior.

The Dubliner agreed to a deal with UFC president Dana White last month to allow him to fight Mayweather in a boxing match.Earlier this week I spoke to McGregor's longtime head coach, John Kavanagh of SBG Ireland, about the event, their approach, McGregor's future in the UFC and more.

Okamoto: As far as you are aware, what is the latest in terms of making this fight a reality?

Kavanagh: The first big hurdle was jumped over, which was Conor and the UFC coming to their agreement. When that happened, it became a lot more real to me. I was enjoying the buildup, the talk, the idea of it. But it wasn't until Conor messaged me and said, 'It's done, I've signed,' that I was like, 'Oh, OK. We actually are boxing.'

Now, Mayweather is dragging his heels a little bit, I guess. It's been over a week since Conor made his public announcement. I'm not quite sure what the delay is. Mayweather seemed anxious to do it in June. Obviously, that date is kind of gone. There's a September date that's been talked about. I don't know why he hasn't signed yet. Maybe there are negotiations to do on his end.

Okamoto: But to be clear, you sound 100 percent confident the fight is happening?

Kavanagh: Absolutely. And that has been part of our mentality. The Mayweather, [Manny] Pacquiao fight [in 2015], I believe the fight was weeks away and things still weren't 100 percent. It's a weird industry, the boxing world. I'm beginning to learn more about it. It's a lot less straightforward than the MMA world.

"There could still be negotiations going on four weeks out, but the big mistake would be to mentally put off the heavy training until every detail is agreed upon. We are training now. We're ready for that date in the fall, whenever that might be. We'll let the lawyers and suits deal with the nuances of who gets this and who gets that. Conor is a fighter. I am his coach. We'll focus on the contest at hand."

Okamoto: What do those preparations look like? A UFC champion, preparing for his first professional boxing match against the best boxer in the world?

Kavanagh: I have a pretty good idea on how I see the fight going. Over the next three to four months, we need to put that plan into action. Drill it. See how it works in the gym. Mix and match the plan until we have it right for the night of the fight.

I will say this: Mayweather has proven himself to be perfect against guys who have trained purely in boxing. I was asked very early on, 'Are you going to bring in Freddie Roach? He's the greatest boxing trainer in the world right now.'

OK. I'm an evidence-based guy. I don't make decision based on emotions. Has Freddie trained somebody to fight Mayweather before? Yes. And a southpaw. A hard-hitting southpaw! And the plan didn't work. I don't see a point in doing the exact same thing.

Obviously, Freddie Roach is incredible. I've been trying to immerse myself in the boxing world, and Freddie has been called one of the last great guys to understand it all -- trainer, cutman, psychologist to the young fighters, technician -- but he did come up short in his approach to Mayweather. So, we can't follow the same formula.

Okamoto: There will be some "boxing expert" presence in this camp, though?

Kavanagh: Yes, 100 percent. And the reason why, is that I want to know how boxing people think. It's not throwing punches. Owen Roddy has that. I need a voice from that world to bounce some of the ideas I have about this contest off of. How he thinks a referee might see something, how a judge sees something. That's the reason to have someone from boxing, as opposed to learning how to box.

We're not going to spend 10 to 12 years doing something one way and then, because it's a boxing fight, change everything for three months and beat the best defensive boxer of all time. No. We've got to come at this with an MMA striking strategy. Of course, hands only, but maybe there are things we can do from an MMA perspective, which, if people study boxing from the early 20th century, those things were a bigger part in the boxing game than they are today. We're bringing an old-school boxing approach.

Okamoto: How important will the negotiations be when it comes to things like referee, judges, ring size, gloves -- those types of details?

Kavanagh: If I'm speaking plainly, and I don't know how much trouble this will get me in, I think we're going to have a hard time finding a fair referee and a fair set of judges. It will be very difficult for a 50- to 60-year-old boxing referee to not go into this bout a little bit biased. Watch Conor Mcgregor Fight Online Actually, I'll throw this out there, I think [U.K.-based MMA referee] Marc Goddard should be the referee.