Column: Giving a knockout blow to the idea Mayweather vs. McGregor will be worth watching

Boxing has gained one notable advantage by moving to the fringes of our cultural landscape: The average sports fan knows nothing about it.

The sport has capitalized on this widespread ignorance to promote fights of highly suspect quality as mega-events, as will be the case again for the upcoming farce between Floyd Mayweather Jr. and mixed-martial arts champion Conor McGregor.

The question here isn’t whether uneducated sports fans will pay the $100 or so it will cost to the watch the pay-per-view broadcast of this mismatch. They will. Nothing they have watched in any other sport has prepared them to deal with the propaganda blitz of a full-blown boxing promotion, much less the oversized personalities of Mayweather and McGregor.

However, if this glorified boxing exhibition is to challenge Mayweather’s lopsided decision win over Manny Pacquaio as the most-watched pay-per-view match in history, it also will have to attract a large segment of traditional boxing fans. And this is where it gets interesting.

Will knowledgeable fans pay to watch this?

McGregor has about the same chances of beating Mayweather in a boxing match as I do of squaring up a Clayton Kershaw slider.

Boxing and mixed-martial arts might be related but aren’t close to being the same. Everything is different, from the proper placement of the feet to the delivery of punches. Chances are McGregor won’t be able to see Mayweather’s right hand.

Mayweather never was considered a puncher, but even a 40-year-old version of him should be able to knock out McGregor whenever he wants.

Every semi-observant boxing fan understands this. But rationality won’t determine whether these potential customers purchase the fight. Impulse control will.

As the fight nears, boxing fans will be asking themselves a variation of the question that resulted in their last regrettable pay-per-view purchase: “What if …?”

In this particular case, what if McGregor gets frustrated and unleashes a kick to Mayweather’s head?

This what-if question has driven the sales of pay-per-view and closed-circuit broadcasts for decades.

There was a time when the hypothetical scenarios had a legitimate chance of happening. Such as, what if Oscar De La Hoya lands his left hook on Felix Trinidad? Or what if Trinidad lands his on De La Hoya?

But as boxing has declined, the questions leading into big fights have become increasingly ridiculous, and, in several instances, barely boxing-related. A prime example: What if Mike Tyson loses his mind and bites his opponent again?

In the most recent pay-per-view extravaganza in Las Vegas, the supposed mystery was whether Julio Cesar Chavez Jr., who lacked the technical refinement of a world-class fighter and was nearly five years removed from his last significant victory, could magically transform into his legendary father.

As remote as that possibility was, there were many people who didn’t want to risk missing a real-life miracle. That curiosity contributed to a million pay-per-view sales. (The fight was predictably lopsided, with Chavez taking a 12-round beating from Canelo Alvarez.)

So here we are, boxing fans now wondering whether McGregor will break the rules set forth in his agreement with Mayweather. The people who watch this sport are an odd tribe, and the majority would consider their money well spent if chaos broke out in the ring.

Only it won’t happen.

There is only one reason McGregor is subjecting himself to being humiliated in a boxing ring, and that’s a career-high payday. He won’t do anything to jeopardize that, and Lance Pugmire of The Times is reporting there will be severe financial penalties if McGregor kicks, knees or elbows Mayweather.

The discussion should end here, except it doesn’t because of Mayweather’s involvement.

Mayweather has a special ability to deliberately enrage the public to a point where it can’t think straight. He is LaVar Ball to the 10th power. An uncontrollable desire to see him lose resulted in a million or more households purchasing his fights against no-chancers such as Victor Ortiz and Robert Guerrero.

Mayweather has resumed his goading of the public on social media platforms with the recent launch of his “Mayweather Challenge.”

“Showing the people how you really live,” he told his audience on a video posted to his Instagram account.

Mayweather showed off his private jet and introduced his personal pilots. He followed that with a video boasting about his Rolls-Royce custom limousine.

“With a chinchilla carpet,” he made it a point to say.

Boxing fans should know better than to fall for this trap again. That doesn’t mean they won’t. Because, you know, what if …?

dylan.hernandez@latimes.com

Follow Dylan Hernandez on Twitter @dylanohernandez

ALSO

Hard to deny boxing-MMA debate isn’t at root of Mayweather-McGregor interest

Oscar De La Hoya to boxing fans: ‘Our sport might not ever recover’ from Mayweather-McGregor

Jerry West explains his move to the Clippers