Mayweather vs. McGregor: the Weight of "Should"
When betting on the Floyd Mayweather vs. Conor McGregor fight first opened, Mayweather opened as a HUGE favorite, coming in at -2250, with McGregor coming back at +950.
Assuming you don’t do a lot of betting on boxing, that means Mayweather was such a heavy favorite, that a bet of $2250.00 would return $100.00 if Mayweather wins the fight. McGregor being the clear underdog, if you bet $100.00, a McGregor win would pay you $950.00.
With such underwhelming gambling odds, it is strange that this fight is being hyped as the biggest pay-per-view event in the history of combat sports.
For a little perspective, Mayweather has reigned as the #1 pound for pound boxer and holds a professional record of 49-0. Mayweather is known for his punching precision and ability to elude. Boxing is his arena, and even though he has been retired for approximately two years, most still consider him the king. Mayweather reigns as the money fight. And he also is unabashed at proclaiming himself the greatest and richest boxer of all time.
Notably, this fight will be McGregor’s professional boxing debut. McGregor is a mixed martial arts (MMA) fighter, MMA being the equivalent of a modern day gladiator fight without weapons. For a moment, McGregor simultaneously held championship belts in two weight classes, but isn’t even considered the best MMA pound for pound fighter in the sport (see Jon Jones). Yet, McGregor is notoriously recognized as the most popular fighter on the planet, despite professional MMA analysts normally predicting him to lose.
A good metaphor might make the ridiculousness of this entire fight more comprehensible.
Say Michelle Kwan, considered the greatest figure skater or all-time, challenged Wayne Gretzky to a game of hockey. No one would care. Most people would laugh. Figure skating has nothing to do with hockey. She wouldn’t.
What does Mayweather vs. McGregor have to do with psychotherapy?
After you read the stat lines, then the betting lines, you probably arrived at a similar conclusion that me, most of my friends who follow these things, and professional boxing analysts have reached – plain and simple, Conor McGregor SHOULD lose this fight. “McGregor is going to get killed in boxing,” said Mike Tyson. Are you familiar with SHOULD? I know I am, and so with every other person I know who plans on watching this fight, I will be pulling for Conor McGregor to knock out Floyd Mayweather.
The best explanation for Conor McGregor’s overwhelming public support I believe is a result of the subconscious mind’s rejection of what I will call the ‘tyranny of should.’ Being told how or what you should do is a basic condition of the human experience. The should experience almost always begins with an external source, normally the primary caregiver, teaching a preadolescent what and how they should do.
“You should already be walking.” “You should go clean your room.” “You should try harder and get better grades.” “If you care about me, you should do what I ask.”
‘Should’ is a trigger word for shame, so such comments force the question of how an individual learns to co-exist and either internalize or externalize their individual shame response.
The human response and internalization of developmental shame creates a neural pathway, a conditioned shame aqueduct, that teaches us how to respond to the word ‘should.’ In our lives, most of us respond to the ‘shoulds’ of life, the shame from others, in three different ways: worthlessness, ambivalence, and rebellion. But this is besides the point. My point, is there exists in this instance a nearly universal response to the SHOULD that Conor McGregor will lose. And inside that response is a chance to take a look at shame, to ask the basic question, “Where did the SHOULDs of my life show up, how have I dealt with them, and why do I find myself fascinated and cheering for Conor McGregor?”
Shame is a governing force. If you can’t see it, or aren’t talking about it, it might be worth your time and money to invest in therapy. In countless incidences, I have seen people in both individual and group therapy change their lives simply by becoming aware of shame’s powerful effect on their life.
As a for instance, the odds of the Floyd Mayweather vs. Conor McGregor fight as of August 4th are now Mayweather -550, McGregor +375. There isn’t an index for the ‘tyranny of should’ that exists as a bedrock of the human subconscious, but nothing fundamental to either fighter has shifted to explain such a dramatic shift in the odds of the fight. People have a response to shame, a response to what should happen, and a natural inclination to shake off ‘what should’ and cheer (or bet) for the impossible.