Mixed martial arts star Conor McGregor has vowed to knock out boxer Floyd Mayweather as a horde of Irish fans descended on Las Vegas for the trash-talking rivals' cross-combat super-fight.
McGregor, 29, will carry a substantial weight advantage into Saturday's 12-round boxing contest at the T-Mobile Arena after Friday's raucous weigh-in saw him face-off with Mayweather for the final time before fight night.
With waves of green-shirted fans in a crowd of around 6,000 roaring their support for the Irishman, McGregor tipped the scales at 153 pounds, well inside the 154lb limit.
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Former welterweight champion Mayweather, 40, who has emerged from a two-year retirement to take on MMA star McGregor, weighed in at 149.5lb.
The naturally bigger McGregor, who screamed into Mayweather's face as the two men went nose-to-nose, said he expects to enter the ring at closer to 170lb.
Saturday's one-off bout is projected to be the richest fight in history, with Mayweather poised to earn as much as $200 million (Dh734.6m) and McGregor potentially pocketing around $100m.
McGregor, who has never fought in a professional boxing contest, is a massive underdog for a fight which is expected to beamed live to around 200 countries and territories across the globe.
But the former apprentice plumber from Dublin, who was unemployed four years ago, predicted he was ready to spring a monumental upset on the skilful Mayweather, one of the finest boxers in history who boasts a perfect 49-0 record.
"That's the worst shape I've ever seen him," McGregor said of Mayweather. "I'm going to breeze through him, trust me on that."
A nonplussed Mayweather shrugged off his weight disadvantage and once again vowed to stop McGregor inside the distance.
"Weight doesn't win fights, fighting wins fights," Mayweather said. "It won't go the distance. Mark my words - I'm not worried about the scales."
McGregor meanwhile basked in the adulation of his Irish fans who have poured into Vegas this week.
"You can't beat us - we've already taken over," McGregor said. "Las Vegas is Ireland now."
An army of Irish fans poured out onto the Las Vegas strip following the weigh-in, dancing and singing in blazing hot sunshine.
Saturday's bout has appalled boxing traditionalists, who have rubbished the event as a meaningless, money-grabbing mismatch which owes more to the pantomime traditions of WWE wrestling than the noble art.
Boxing pundits, coaches and fighters have lined up to dismiss McGregor's hopes of succeeding where 49 others in Mayweather's 21-year career have failed.
"Would a ping-pong player have a chance of scoring a point against Roger Federer?" was the withering verdict of veteran trainer Teddy Atlas. "It's going to be like walking through a really bad neighbourhood late at night. McGregor's going to get mugged."
Yet the mere fact that McGregor will carry at least a puncher's chance into the contest has been enough to sustain the excitement.
Stephen Espinoza, the head of cable network Showtime Sports which is selling the fight on pay-per-view in the US, said surveys had shown that fans were not deterred by predictions of a mismatch.
"The casual fans were absolutely adamant," Espinoza said. "Their response almost universally was 'We don't care if it's a mismatch ... if there's a .01 chance that something incredible could happen, we need to watch it.' And that's why they're going to watch it."
Others however have sounded a note of caution, citing potential safety risks to McGregor given the chasm of experience between the Irishman and Mayweather.
British former light-welterweight world champion Amir Khan expressed fears McGregor could be seriously injured.
"It's like a tennis player trying to play badminton," Khan said. "(McGregor) needs to think about himself in this fight, because if he gets seriously injured, he might not ever be the same fighter or he might not even fight again."
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TEST SQUADS
Bangladesh: Mushfiqur Rahim (captain), Tamim Iqbal, Soumya Sarkar, Imrul Kayes, Liton Das, Shakib Al Hasan, Mominul Haque, Nasir Hossain, Sabbir Rahman, Mehedi Hasan, Shafiul Islam, Taijul Islam, Mustafizur Rahman and Taskin Ahmed.
Australia: Steve Smith (captain), David Warner, Ashton Agar, Hilton Cartwright, Pat Cummins, Peter Handscomb, Matthew Wade, Josh Hazlewood, Usman Khawaja, Nathan Lyon, Glenn Maxwell, Matt Renshaw, Mitchell Swepson and Jackson Bird.
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Dubai works towards better air quality by 2021
Dubai is on a mission to record good air quality for 90 per cent of the year – up from 86 per cent annually today – by 2021.
The municipality plans to have seven mobile air-monitoring stations by 2020 to capture more accurate data in hourly and daily trends of pollution.
These will be on the Palm Jumeirah, Al Qusais, Muhaisnah, Rashidiyah, Al Wasl, Al Quoz and Dubai Investment Park.
“It will allow real-time responding for emergency cases,” said Khaldoon Al Daraji, first environment safety officer at the municipality.
“We’re in a good position except for the cases that are out of our hands, such as sandstorms.
“Sandstorms are our main concern because the UAE is just a receiver.
“The hotspots are Iran, Saudi Arabia and southern Iraq, but we’re working hard with the region to reduce the cycle of sandstorm generation.”
Mr Al Daraji said monitoring as it stood covered 47 per cent of Dubai.
There are 12 fixed stations in the emirate, but Dubai also receives information from monitors belonging to other entities.
“There are 25 stations in total,” Mr Al Daraji said.
“We added new technology and equipment used for the first time for the detection of heavy metals.
“A hundred parameters can be detected but we want to expand it to make sure that the data captured can allow a baseline study in some areas to ensure they are well positioned.”
LILO & STITCH
Starring: Sydney Elizebeth Agudong, Maia Kealoha, Chris Sanders
Director: Dean Fleischer Camp
Rating: 4.5/5
Who's who in Yemen conflict
Houthis: Iran-backed rebels who occupy Sanaa and run unrecognised government
Yemeni government: Exiled government in Aden led by eight-member Presidential Leadership Council
Southern Transitional Council: Faction in Yemeni government that seeks autonomy for the south
Habrish 'rebels': Tribal-backed forces feuding with STC over control of oil in government territory
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Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Crime%20Wave
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The years Ramadan fell in May
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Three ways to boost your credit score
Marwan Lutfi says the core fundamentals that drive better payment behaviour and can improve your credit score are:
1. Make sure you make your payments on time;
2. Limit the number of products you borrow on: the more loans and credit cards you have, the more it will affect your credit score;
3. Don't max out all your debts: how much you maximise those credit facilities will have an impact. If you have five credit cards and utilise 90 per cent of that credit, it will negatively affect your score.
At Everton Appearances: 77; Goals: 17
At Manchester United Appearances: 559; Goals: 253
MATCH INFO
Uefa Champions League quarter-final second leg:
Juventus 1 Ajax 2
Ajax advance 3-2 on aggregate
The squad traveling to Brazil:
Faisal Al Ketbi, Ibrahim Al Hosani, Khalfan Humaid Balhol, Khalifa Saeed Al Suwaidi, Mubarak Basharhil, Obaid Salem Al Nuaimi, Saeed Juma Al Mazrouei, Saoud Abdulla Al Hammadi, Taleb Al Kirbi, Yahia Mansour Al Hammadi, Zayed Al Kaabi, Zayed Saif Al Mansoori, Saaid Haj Hamdou, Hamad Saeed Al Nuaimi. Coaches Roberto Lima and Alex Paz.
Day 2, stumps
Pakistan 482
Australia 30/0 (13 ov)
Australia trail by 452 runs with 10 wickets remaining in the innings
Fifa Club World Cup quarter-final
Kashima Antlers 3 (Nagaki 49’, Serginho 69’, Abe 84’)
Guadalajara 2 (Zaldivar 03’, Pulido 90')
hall of shame
SUNDERLAND 2002-03
No one has ended a Premier League season quite like Sunderland. They lost each of their final 15 games, taking no points after January. They ended up with 19 in total, sacking managers Peter Reid and Howard Wilkinson and losing 3-1 to Charlton when they scored three own goals in eight minutes.
SUNDERLAND 2005-06
Until Derby came along, Sunderland’s total of 15 points was the Premier League’s record low. They made it until May and their final home game before winning at the Stadium of Light while they lost a joint record 29 of their 38 league games.
HUDDERSFIELD 2018-19
Joined Derby as the only team to be relegated in March. No striker scored until January, while only two players got more assists than goalkeeper Jonas Lossl. The mid-season appointment Jan Siewert was to end his time as Huddersfield manager with a 5.3 per cent win rate.
ASTON VILLA 2015-16
Perhaps the most inexplicably bad season, considering they signed Idrissa Gueye and Adama Traore and still only got 17 points. Villa won their first league game, but none of the next 19. They ended an abominable campaign by taking one point from the last 39 available.
FULHAM 2018-19
Terrible in different ways. Fulham’s total of 26 points is not among the lowest ever but they contrived to get relegated after spending over £100 million (Dh457m) in the transfer market. Much of it went on defenders but they only kept two clean sheets in their first 33 games.
LA LIGA: Sporting Gijon, 13 points in 1997-98.
BUNDESLIGA: Tasmania Berlin, 10 points in 1965-66
MATCH INFO
Kolkata Knight Riders 245/6 (20 ovs)
Kings XI Punjab 214/8 (20 ovs)
Kolkata won by 31 runs
Draw:
Group A: Egypt, DR Congo, Uganda, Zimbabwe
Group B: Nigeria, Guinea, Madagascar, Burundi
Group C: Senegal, Algeria, Kenya, Tanzania
Group D: Morocco, Ivory Coast, South Africa, Namibia
Group E: Tunisia, Mali, Mauritania, Angola
Group F: Cameroon, Ghana, Benin, Guinea-Bissau
Brief scores:
Everton 2
Walcott 21', Sigurdsson 51'
Tottenham 6
Son 27', 61', Alli 35', Kane 42', 74', Eriksen 48'
Man of the Match: Son Heung-min (Tottenham Hotspur)
