- Irishman creates gold statue of MMA champion fighter Conor McGregor
If McGregor cast in gold would be worth …
- If Mayweather were cast in gold he would be worth $2.7m
- Federer golden statue worth more than Andy Murray cast in gold
- Ali once fought equivalent of MMA fighter and nearly ended career
- Gold continues to be seen as the ultimate prize by athletes
- Gold teaches us to take our time and protect ourselves from risk
At the moment there are some heated debates going on about statues that some believe should no longer stand. Many of the figures previously cast in bronze, gold or stone are no longer seen as heroes. Time has changed our perspective on what were once seen as heroic endeavours and achievements.
Today we have different measures of success, even to lose at something doesn’t mean you are forgotten in history. It used to be said that second-place may as well be last as people only remember the winner.
That isn’t the case for MMA fighter and Dublin-born Conor McGregor who just one week ago was defeated by the undefeatable and 50-times unbeaten champion Floyd Mayweather.
McGregor’s achievement of stepping out of his comfort zone and taking on the legend that is Floyd Mayweather is something that has not gone unnoticed by Irishman Eamon Heneghan.
Last week Heneghan unveiled a life-size gold statue of Conor McGregor, ‘I’m such a big fan and find him so inspirational.’ the amateur sculptor told the Irish Independent.
Heneghan is currently out of work. He saw that McGregor was keen on gold statues and decided that he would make one for him. His hopes are that the MMA champion will notice it. We hope he does as statues are getting bad rep at the moment and this one was only made out of admiration for someone who made history.
The gold-sprayed chicken wire and papier-mâché statue has been called a mixture of things but it was definitely one headline that declared the statue ‘belongs in the pantheon of horrible sports sculptures’ that grabbed my attention.
Whatever you think of the statue you have to admire the effort that went into it. We thought we would look at some other headline-grabbing sports statues and look at what may have happened if they had been cast in gold.
Ugly statues
A lot of sports stars have been confronted with statues that perhaps aren’t the most…flattering.
One of the most famous is Ronaldo.
The bust was cast out of bronze, but we suspect if Ronaldo had ben cast in gold he might feel a little happier about it.
Is Ronaldo worth his weight in gold? Ronaldo was bought by Real Madrid for €94 million in 2009. At the time his weight in gold was worth €1.76m, today he is worth over €2.8m in gold. This is nothing to do with Ronaldo’s performance, instead the simple climb in price of gold.
How does that compare to the other competitor for world’s best footballer, Lionel Messi. The Barcelona Forward €250m. Weighing in at 72kg, Messi’s weight in gold today is worth €2.25m.
Wimbledon champs
In 2011, Andy Murray was ‘honoured’ with a Terracotta Army statue in Shanghai.
The Chinese are obviously known for their love of gold. Had they decided to make Andy’s 84kg frame into a gold statue in 2011 then it would have fallen slightly from £2.856m to £2.688m.
Murray’s statue in Shanghai was in good company. Just the year before Roger Federer had been gifted with a statue in a similar style. In contrast to Murray’s 2011 statue, Federer’s 2010 statue has climbed in value from £2.295m to £2.72m. It shows what difference a year can make.
All about the gold
What’s most interesting about the coverage surrounding this new statue is that it wouldn’t have happened if Heneghan hadn’t decided to paint it in gold.
If he’d not painted it at all or just gone for a plain colour then no-one would be interested.
We have a fascination with gold that means it makes headlines. Everyone likes something to do with gold.
We reward people in gold. Last week the belt McG and Mayweather were fighting for was made of 1.5kg gold (plus 3,360 diamonds 600 sapphires and 160 emeralds).
The desire to reward and be rewarded in gold has been around since time immemorial. It is not a recent phenomenon of high gold prices or flashy Instagram photos.
We know deep down inside that to be rewarded in gold is to be rewarded with something that will last long past the victories and secure your financial future.
Watch gold in the long-term
The last few examples of how gold can change in over time are merely short-term ones.
To bring it back to Mayweather we can take each of his fighting weights from his 50 fights and see how the equivalent weight in gold has climbed since.
The graph below shows the percentage gain in the gold price since Mayweather’s first fight in 1996 and in 2017. Since his 1996 fight against Roberto Apodaca the price of gold has climbed by over 226%. Gold hasn’t demonstrated as big gains if you bought in recent years but the lesson here is that gold takes its time.
Conclusion: gold’s the champion but it takes its time and doesn’t show off
The most famous boxer of all time is of course Muhammad Ali.
What’s interesting about Ali in light of the Mayweather vs McGregor fight is that the legendary boxer once took on a similar challenge.
In 1976 Ali fought Antonio Inoki, a Japanese professional wrestler. The fight was fought under special rules and is seen as a precursor to the MMA sport which McGregor is famous for today.
The result was a draw but Ali was arguably left worse off. He was left with two blood clots in his legs. These hindered him for the rest of his career with amputation even being discussed at one point. The fight is considered one of the most embarrassing of Ali’s career.
Ali was so convinced that he could show that he was ‘The Greatest’ that he stepped out of his comfort zone and into unfamiliar territory. As a result he nearly ruined his entire sporting future.
An analogy can be drawn with Ali’s challenge with what we see today in the financial world and governments controlling the monetary system. They feel they are infallible. They are taking on riskier and riskier matches, with rules that are unfamiliar and the consequences known.
What has survived all of the risk taking whether in sports or finance? Gold has. Gold cannot be beaten to a pulp whether figuratively or literally. It has stood strong through numerous bouts of financial stress and will continue to protect portfolios for many years to come.
Source: Marketwatch
Gold Prices (LBMA AM)
04 Sep: USD 1,334.60, GBP 1,030.98 & EUR 1,114.15 per ounce
01 Sep: USD 1,318.40, GBP 1,020.18 & EUR 1,106.85 per ounce
31 Aug: USD 1,305.80, GBP 1,013.17 & EUR 1,098.31 per ounce
30 Aug: USD 1,310.60, GBP 1,014.93 & EUR 1,096.71 per ounce
29 Aug: USD 1,323.40, GBP 1,020.34 & EUR 1,097.36 per ounce
25 Aug: USD 1,287.05, GBP 1,003.90 & EUR 1,090.90 per ounce
24 Aug: USD 1,285.90, GBP 1,003.26 & EUR 1,090.44 per ounce
Silver Prices (LBMA)
04 Sep: USD 17.80, GBP 13.75 & EUR 14.95 per ounce
01 Sep: USD 17.50, GBP 13.53 & EUR 14.69 per ounce
31 Aug: USD 17.34, GBP 13.47 & EUR 14.62 per ounce
30 Aug: USD 17.44, GBP 13.49 & EUR 14.60 per ounce
29 Aug: USD 17.60, GBP 13.59 & EUR 14.62 per ounce
25 Aug: USD 17.02, GBP 13.26 & EUR 14.40 per ounce
24 Aug: USD 16.93, GBP 13.20 & EUR 14.36 per ounce
