Couture confident McGregor will not be KO’d, but will be ‘beat up’

The Kats! Bureau, at this writing, is at the Stella Artois bar at McCarran International Airport’s D Gates. The gal next to me, who just arrived from Argentina, is saddled up to a double-Jameson over ice on her way to baggage claim. She is just starting her VegasVille vacation and is simply not pacing herself. It’s gonna be a long trip.

For me, it’s time for a flight to NYC for some “Bandstand” action. Richard Oberacker and Robert Taylor, who share writing credits for the musical, have a winner. The show won a Tony for Best Choreography (Andy Blankenbuehler) during Sunday’s Tony Awards broadcast on CBS. The Vegas crew will be on Broadway this week. It’s going to be a thing.

Onward:

Couture takes a shot

Ex-MMA superstar and rising film thespian Randy Couture had this to say of Conor McGregor’s chances against Floyd Mayweather: “I don’t think he’ll be knocked out, but I do think he’s going to get beat up. The best boxers in the world have not touched this guy in the past 10 years. I don’t think a mixed-martial arts guy, even a guy as good as Conor, has a shot. He has a 1-in-10 chance.”

The two are meeting, boxing-style, Aug. 26 at T-Mobile Arena.

Couture made the comments to Vegas Stats and Information Network (VSiN) co-hosts Steve Cyr and Natali Tangherlini on Wednesday during the debut episode of their talk show, “Pushing the Limits.”

Couture fought James Toney in UFC 118 in 2010. Couture put the former middleweight and cruiserweight champ on the ground and put him out in less than a round. Toney didn’t land a punch.

“It’s going to be interesting,” Couture said. “I kind of hope (McGregor) forgets where he’s at and kicks Mayweather in the head.” Ah, the old, “I forgot” ploy. Effective. Illegal, but effective.

Bernstein’s main event

My pal and legendary boxing broadcaster Al Bernstein is back onstage Friday night at “The Kenny Davidsen Show” at Tuscany Suites’ T-Spot Lounge. He’ll take the stage at a-bout (ha) 10 p.m. to perform ably conveying tunes from the Great American Songbook and some contemporary covers.

Bernstein timed the is timing this show to coincide with on the night before Saturday’s Andre Ward-Sergey Kovalev fight at Mandalay Bay Events Center.

During a recent interview for my KUNV 91.5-FM radio show, speaking of major matches, Bernstein talked of calling the action for McGregor-Mayweather bout. The veteran broadcaster/lounge crooner, who calls major pay-per-view events for Showtime, says that describing the action will be comparatively easy. But the pre- and post-fight analysis presents a challenge.

“Honestly, you have to ask, ‘What does this mean to the legacy of these men?’ It’s a tricky question to answer,” says Bernstein, who spent more than two decades hosting “Top Rank Boxing” fight cards at ESPN before moving to Showtime in 2003. “What if Mayweather gets killed, or happened to lose? That a long shot — he’ll walk in as a monster favorite.

“But let’s say McGregor is able to go the distance with Mayweather. Now he’s put himself in position to where can go back to his sport and say, “Look what I did: I went the distance for the best pound-for-pound fighter in the world. Gimme some kudos.’

Bernstein continued: “Maybe (McGregor) will get knocked out in Round 1. What does that do to his MMA career? Does that impact it? What does that do to the marketing him in his career? These are very tricky questions to answer.”

Even though he was musing about the fight weeks before Wednesday’s announcement, Bernstein anticipated the bout’s appeal.

“These are the two most well-known personalities in combat sports,” he said. “People have an appetite for this.”

Not funny

MGM Resorts Chairman Jim Murren was an interested, and reportedly unamused, audience member at Chris Rock’s early show at The Park Theater on Saturday. The performance was marred by repeated audio and video problems, prompting the superstar comedian to threaten to walk off stage and say of the venue, “This is the worst (expletive) place I’ve worked.”

MGM brass was also not laughing at Rock’s criticism of the Monte Carlo, as he blasted the hotel during the show and in social media for not providing room service after 2 a.m. But the company and artist are doing business once more: Rock is set to play The Theater at MGM National Harbor in Maryland on Oct. 19.

Shecky update

Comic legend Shecky Green is a “leaner.”

“I will be leaning from now on,” he said Wednesday afternoon. “I am leaning on a table now.”

Greene broke his right hip and femur in a fall at the Italian American Club on March 22. He had one surgery to repair his femur, but his hip socket — where he has an artificial hip, from a surgery 25 years ago — is too deteriorated to repair. Greene turned 91 on April 8.

John Katsilometes’ column runs daily in the A section. Contact him at jkatsilometes@reviewjournal.com. Follow @johnnykats on Twitter, @JohnnyKats1 on Instagram.