Five things we need to learn from Floyd Mayweather, Conor McGregor press tour

With consecutive stops in Los Angeles, Toronto, New York and London, this week's international press tour promoting the Aug. 26 boxing match between Floyd Mayweather and UFC champion Conor McGregor has all the makings of a circus.

Considering most expect the pay-per-view match will be more exhibition than actual fight, this week could prove to be the high point in terms of competition and entertainment as the always brash McGregor (21-3 in MMA), 28, matches wits with the 40-year-old Mayweather (49-0, 26 KOs).

The four news conferences, which are expected to feature musical performances (including an appearance Tuesday by Aloe Blacc), will be streamed live on a number of digital platforms, including CBSSports.com. Tune in after 5 p.m. ET on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday -- and at 2 p.m. ET on Friday -- to watch them all.

As we draw near to this carnival and historic event, here are five things we hope to learn from the Mayweather-McGregor press tour.

1. How well can McGregor sell his chances of winning? When you mix two dominant personalities with a history genius self-marketing skills into the same ring, there's enough star power in play to guarantee a PPV bonanza. Add in the train wreck element that casual fans simply can't ignore and the fact that, at its core, this fight pairs the top star in boxing against his counterpart in MMA, and suddenly you have a shot at breaking every financial and PPV buy record available.

Yet for this fight to actually approach the incredible 4.6 million buy record set by Mayweather against Manny Pacquiao in 2015, there needs to be more than simply one-liners and heated stare downs. McGregor, who has given himself the nickname "Mystic Mac" for how many of his UFC fight predictions rang eerily true, needs to legitimately convince potential buyers that he can defeat the greatest boxer of his own generation despite having never fought a single round as an amateur or professional.

Outside of playing up his 12-year age advantage and long southpaw stance, while showing highlights of his numerous UFC knockouts, McGregor will need to flash his unshakable self belief to the level of a psychotic cult leader in order to brainwash enough consumers into believing an early knockout remains a possibility. While victory in the fight still seems a long shot, a win at the box office remains very much in play.

2. How low will McGregor go? It has been a long time since we have seen "Money" Mayweather the salesman unleash his flamboyant persona in order to sell a fight. The days of Floyd slinging trash talk on HBO's landmark "24/7" pre-fight documentary series feel very distant. The Mayweather of recent years has simply relied on his pursuit of perfection and the hopes that paying for the chance of seeing him lose was enough. For the most part, it has been. As Mayweather often says, "The proof is in the pudding."

But when it comes to psychological attacks, McGregor will be coming at Mayweather with more skills and ammunition than he has been forced to deal with in many years. In fact, mental warfare has become Conor's trademark, and it has helped him shake the confidence of opponents (or at the very least, get them off of their intended gameplan) time and time again. Look no further than his knockout of then-lightweight champ Eddie Alvarez last November for proof.

In order for McGregor to actually leave a mark against Mayweather during the press tour and summon the trash-talking "Pretty Boy" of old, he's going to have to strike a nerve deep enough to get past Floyd's confident, businessman exterior. To do that, he'll have to get personal. And considering the many skeletons in Mayweather's past -- everything from recent tax issues to a history of domestic violence -- there's no shortage of ammunition for McGregor to choose from.

Should "The Notorious" anger Mayweather enough to produce an emotional reaction, it will be viewed by many as an early victory in the lead up to the fight.

3. How "involved" will Dana White get in selling the fight? White, the outspoken UFC president, will be a major presence at each stop in the press tour as the promoter of McGregor, and he has done his best in recent weeks to sell his fighter's chances of winning. In fact, it was White himself who has said ad nauseum of late how he has learned from experience to never bet against McGregor and his outrageous predictions.

Although White has largely dodged the topic, it has been safe to assume UFC's interest in allowing McGregor to pursue this fight simply came down to the amount of money it would receive for doing so. That development was an incredibly important one in this fight even happening considering the risk to McGregor's MMA brand should he lose in embarrassing fashion.

UFC has agreed to join in on the promotional side of the fight, running promos during fight telecasts and streaming the press tour on its website and Fight Pass network. To the surprise of many, the negotiations went off without a hitch with White constantly praising the business acumen and professionalism of Mayweather, adviser Al Haymon and Showtime Sports.

But at some point things might get personal during the press tour and White has had a history of trading barbs with Mayweather through the media at various times. And considering White's oversized persona and propensity to publicly feud with his own fighters, it will be interesting to see if -- at any point during the promotion -- lines in the sand begin to get drawn between the boxing and MMA representatives.

There is already enough of a pro wrestling feel to this fight. The idea of seeing White, in his first role as co-promoter, jawing with Mayweather and his sycophant business associate Leonard Ellerbe could get interesting.

4. Will Mayweather be honest about McGregor's chances? No one has a better understanding of just how low McGregor's actual chances of winning are than Mayweather, a defensive genius who somehow found a way to make champion boxers like Manny Pacquiao and Canelo Alvarez look ordinary. Let's just say there's a reason why Mayweather has constantly repeated he would only come out of retirement for one opponent.

Once the fight appeared close to becoming official, it became interesting to hear the insincere sales pitches from both Mayweather and Ellerbe about McGregor's toughness and punching power. Suddenly gone were the insults referencing McGregor "quitting" in his submission loss to Nate Diaz in March 2016 (that was later avenged by a split-decision victory in the rematch).

Expect Mayweather to start off the press tour with his promoter hat on, slinging his usual phrases like "hungry young lion" when describing McGregor. Heck, in theory, playing up McGregor's chances might be the best way to sell the most PPVs.

At some point, things will likely get personal throughout the build and Mayweather may need to shift from promoter to actual fighter to verbally defend himself. Should McGregor penetrate Floyd's defense in that regard, will he change his tune change in terms of letting the Irishman (and the millions of potential buyers) just how one-sided this fight has the potential to be?

5. Is this going to turn into a full carnival? Outside of live music and the extra dose of pomp and circumstance that's expected for a press tour this large, the main question we all have is simple: How crazy will this spectacle actually get?

A lot of that will fall on the shoulders of McGregor, who has a long and decorated history of inciting crowds and making scenes at press events. Few can forget him stealing Jose Aldo's UFC title, throwing water bottles at Nate Diaz, and arriving fashionably late to his UFC 205 presser opposite Alvarez, wearing a mink coat and putting his feet up on the dais before exclaiming, "Sorry I'm late but I just don't give a f---!"

There are many casual fans who will flock to this fight simply out of hope that McGregor will do something unforgettable like wrestle Mayweather to the ground or land a spinning back kick without care of disqualification or financial penalty. Those same fans will watch the press tour in hopes McGregor will literally approach Mayweather physically and start a fight.

From Muhammad Ali to Mike Tyson, boxing has had a long history of using these type of press events to sell the fight by doing the same type of crazy stunts that McGregor has brought to the sport of MMA. In many ways, he's perfect for the kind of craziness that could be ahead of us this week.

Just how far he's willing to go likely affects just how much money he will end up making. And there's also the (highly unlikely) chance that this week's antics might help him from a mental standpoint inside the ring. Considering the proven unflappability of Mayweather, those odds remain long. But that's why we tune in and that's why many will be willing to drop $100 in order to find out.