Sports Then and Now

Sports and gambling have always had a special connection for centuries. Since sporting events started to take place worldwide, people have engaged in gambling in order to win some money and gambling has become a hobby and way of life for many people. There is no surprise that today we have many online gambling sites that provide sports betting and many other games. 

Since the gambling industry has been around for a while, there is no surprise that numerous famous and celebrated athletes have tried out their own luck. Some of them are successful and some of them even developed a problem. Nevertheless, the following athletes have a history of gambling, and you can even check out a guide to online casinos in America and try out your own luck. 

Floyd Mayweather Jr.

Floyd “Money” Mayweather didn’t earn this nickname for no reason. Not only is he unbeatable in the ring, but he is also a renowned gambler. He is known to bet some seriously big games and he even posts tweets regularly with pictures of his betting slips. Since he is so good at gambling, he shows the proof of some massive wagers winning even hundreds of thousands of dollars. 

Michael Jordan

One of the greatest basketball players of all time with numerous NBA championships behind him, Michael Jordan is also an avid gambler. Besides his great NBA career, he is also known for winning some of the highest stake gambling games. At the high of his days, he was even a regular bettor on rock, paper and scissors. Once, Jordan even bet as much as $100,000 on the game. In 1992, before the Barcelona Olympics Finals it is said that he spent a whole night playing poker with Charles Barkley, Magic Johnson and Scottie Pippen. During his career, Jordan has been seen playing golf for money or betting on it, and he did lose great amounts of money, but he often won as well. And even though he is retired now, not much has changed when it comes to betting. 

Conor McGregor took most of the big hits during his battle with Floyd Mayweather.

Las Vegas’ T-Mobile arena saw Floyd Mayweather surpass Conor McGregor with a tenth round stoppage on Saturday, and win the money spinning super fight, alongside clinching the 50^th straight victory of his extraordinary career.

Mayweather Took His Time on Saturday

Mayweather, as a former welterweight boxing champion, emerged from a retirement spanning two years to face the Irish MMA superstar, and took his own sweet time to get the fight started. After the fourth round began, however, his domination was complete.

The end of the fight saw an exhausted McGregor doubled over the ropes and Mayweather landing two hard left hooks, an action which prompted ref Robert Byrd’s intervention, and his call of a technical knockout.

Mayweather Remains Complimentary about McGregor

Mayweather stated that McGregor impressed him, and that the Irishman was far better than he had imagined he would be. He went on to say, however, that although McGregor was a tough competitor, he had been the better man that night.

The Slow Going a Deliberate Move

Mayweather said that he had purposefully taken his time as the match began, since he knew that this would allow him to take full advantage of the fatigue he predicted McGregor would be battling.

In accordance with many of the punters that partook of the online betting NZ and the rest of the world provided, Mayweather was certain that McGregor would be unable to go the distance, and he was proven correct, as the tenth round revealed. Read the rest of this entry →

Does the 11 year age different give the youthful Conor McGregor an advantage against 40-year-old Floyd Mayweather.

Floyd Mayweather has carried on with the mind games in the lead up to his super-fight against Conor McGregor, most lately by acknowledging his younger opponent’s advantages.

McGregor Looks Good on Paper

Mayweather, speaking to ESPN, has said that the physical differences between him and his rival meant that, theoretically, McGregor looked good for the win.

Mayweather also conceded that he was older now, and far from the fighter he once was, and that the age gap of 11 years gave McGregor a considerable edge. He went on to say that not only was McGregor was a lot younger than he, he was also taller, with a longer reach.

Mayweather Takes Time Off of Criticizing Conor

When he was questioned as to why he was not taking this chance to once again verbally assault his opponent, Mayweather replied that facts were facts, and that he had to acknowledge his age. He went on to say that he knew he was not the same fighter that he had once been, even two years ago, and that Andre Berto managing to go the distance with him was indicative of the advantages he no longer had access to because of his age.

Mayweather stated that his knockout ratio had once been 90%, and that it was obvious that he had started slipping, and his age had started taking its toll on his ability to fight as he once had. Read the rest of this entry →

The hype is in full swing for the Floyd Mayweather fight against Conor McGregor.

Michael Page, the British fighter, has stated the obvious: if Conor McGregor wins the upcoming August fight against Floyd Mayweather Jr. it will be the biggest upset in the history of sport. He went on to say that the last time the world experienced anything like this win would be was when Leicester won the Premier League, and that McGregor winning would overshadow that, in just one boxing match, in the unlikely event that he managed to best Mayweather.

Mayweather Lets McGregor Fight with Gloves He’s Used to

Mayweather has been keeping his mouth shut, relatively speaking, in the build-up to the Vegas showdown, but he has recently dropped a bombshell: he has told McGregor to forget about the ten ounce gloves he should wear for the fight, and stick to the eight ounce ones he’s more used to instead!

The Buzz of the Press Conference Showdowns

McGregor has claimed that he emerged the winner in each round of his promotional tour alongside the undefeated Mayweather, but one of the biggest criticisms he has had to contend with were allegations of racism due to more-insensitive-than-usual comments he made. Australian sports betting sites and those around the world have been lapping up every minute of the sensational exchanges, but there are many people that feel that McGregor went too far a number of times.

The claims arose after McGregor told Mayweather to dance for him, calling him boy, as well, a moniker with severe racial overtones. His attempts to diffuse the furore that resulted only added gasoline to the fire, with a further uproar resulting from McGregor’s statement that he was half-black, below the waist. He also referred to black people as dancing monkeys when discussing the third instalment of the Rocky films on a chat show.

Trash Talk Started Early On

McGregor had previously laid into Mayweather about reports over the latter’s unpaid taxes, with the IRS claiming that the boxer owes them more than US$20 million in unpaid taxes from 2015. This was the year that Mayweather enjoyed his biggest payday to date thanks to the blockbuster bout against Manny Pacquiao.

Mayweather’s rather tame response was that his domain was intact, but this affected McGregor’s taunting not a jot, and he continued to tease the champion about the money he allegedly owes the US government. McGregor even commented on what Mayweather was wearing, saying that the boxer could obviously not afford a suit, and that the money he owed was the reason behind the fact that he was dressed in just a tracksuit. Read the rest of this entry →

Floyd Mayweather enters the Conor McGregor fight with a 49-0 professional career record.

It is either the match of the millennium or one of the biggest money-spinners in history, but the fight between Floyd Mayweather and Conor McGregor is confirmed. The formerly-retired, unsurpassed boxer Floyd Mayweather will be taking on the biggest star of the UFC, Conor McGregor, in Las Vegas.

There has been years of speculation about whether or not this would ever take place, and both athletes have been exchanging insults for ages now, but they have also confirmed that it will be happening. A boxer with a record of 49 for 0 will meet a man who has never taken part in any kind of pro boxing match in the ring in August of this year.

A Closer Look at Floyd Mayweather

Floyd Mayweather is an American boxer born in Michigan’s Grand Rapids on the 24^th of February 1977. He won a bronze medal in the Olympics and 3 national Golden Gloves before turning pro in 1996. Mayweather took his first championship title in 1988 as a super featherweight, and went on to gain titles in 4 different weight classes while keeping an undefeated record.

 A Complicated Family Life

Mayweather’s domestic life was a complex one: the senior Mayweather had a fierce temper, and drifted in and out of serious danger whilst working as a drug dealer. He got shot in the leg in 1978, whilst his son was in his arms, and in 1993 the law finally caught up with him and he got sent to jail for trafficking cocaine. Deborah, Mayweather’s mother, also battled with issues around substance abuse. Read the rest of this entry →

The initial press conference between Floyd Mayweather and Conor McGregor illustrates that the draw for their August 26th fight will be as much about hype and fighting skills.

The fight between Floyd Mayweather and Conor McGregor was confirmed in June this year, and is set to take place in Las Vegas on the 26^th of August.

Fighters Have Fun on Social Media

Mayweather confirmed the fight with a social media post in June, with strident Irishman, Conor McGregor, jokingly posting a photo of himself with Floyd Mayweather Sr., the boxing legend’s father, minutes before the official announcement was made.

It’s Been a Long Time Coming

This supreme money fight and crossover boxing match between the UFC champion and undefeated boxer was in the works for more than a year, but it has finally become a reality, and supporters are going wild. When the betting markets opened it was no surprise that Mayweather was the favorite, coming in at -2250, with McGregor coming in at +950. When the official fight announcement was made Mayweather’s odds slipped to -800, and McGregor came back at +500. The odds continue to move as the fighters spar through the media and the hype builds.

One Totally Triumphant Athlete vs. Another

Floyd Mayweather, at 40-years old, won 49 bouts before he retired in September 2015, and is widely held to be one of the finest defensive fighters in history. He prides himself on being able to evade the punishing blows of his opponents by skillfully moving around the ring, and is excellent at making whatever adjustments are required in order to best his adversary on the fly.

Conor McGregor, whilst being the first UFC fighter to hold two belts at the same time –when he knocked Eddie Alvarez out in New York in November 2016 for the lightweight championship – and being both the reigning lightweight champion and former featherweight champion, has never boxed in either a professional or amateur capacity. He is also as well known for his bravado as he is for his volatile knockout power inside the MMA octagon, however, and has remained a firm favorite with the best bets NZ bookmakers offer punters. Read the rest of this entry →