Kabir Chibber

Last year was supposed to be the best of Mikaela Mayer’s life.

There are not many feel-good stories at the moment in Syria, which is in its sixth year of civil war. Here’s one.

One night in September 1983, when Stanislav Petrov was on duty in a bunker near Moscow, his computer told him that the US had just launched four nuclear missiles at the Soviet Union.

After beating Conor McGregor on Aug. 26, Floyd Mayweather was filmed walking back to his locker room. As everyone in his camp cheered and gave him a standing ovation, Mayweather walked to the back and hugged a taller man in a business suit.

In the end, Conor McGregor didn’t brawl. He didn’t wrestle. He didn’t cheat. He came out and boxed with Floyd Mayweather, one of the best to ever do it.

We’ve talked about the business.

Conor McGregor, boxing novice, takes on Floyd Mayweather on Saturday in what is shaping up to be the biggest fight in history. Both men are promising that neither will make it depend on the judges’ scorecards. But what if they have to fight for the full 12 rounds?  (Mayweather’s last seven fights, going back to 2011, have gone the distance.)

In the hours before Conor McGregor, a superstar of the world of mixed martial arts, takes on boxing legend and odds-on favorite Floyd Mayweather, let us remember another mismatch between two giants of their respective sporting worlds.

The last time Floyd Mayweather lost was when he was robbed as an amateur during the semi-finals of the 1996 Atlanta Olympics. He is unbeaten in 49 fights as a pro. He has never been knocked out.

Everyone in the world of boxing thinks that Floyd Mayweather, an undefeated five-weight champion, should easily beat Conor McGregor, who is making his pro debut. McGregor’s fans aren’t listening.

Manny Pacquiao said “there is no way he will be able to land a meaningful punch on Floyd.” Mike Tyson thinks that he will get “killed.” The odds against him have stayed at 5 to 1 since the fight was announced. In his superfight against Floyd Mayweather, the experts say that Conor McGregor has no chance.

Conor McGregor goes into his super-fight with Floyd Mayweather as the perhaps the greatest underdog in sporting history.

Floyd Mayweather recently posted the following:

Two years ago, we speculated that Floyd Mayweather was retiring from boxing after matching Rocky Marciano’s undefeated record of 49-0 simply as a ruse to make his comeback fight more exciting. But who would that 50th fighter be? The most likely candidate at the time was a young, also-unbeaten boxer who would continue to improve and get a big enough following to sell an epic un-retirement match.

Washington, DC

In the 19th century, American politics was briefly dominated by a small but determined group of people who detested foreigners.

“There are no secrets about the world of nature,” said Robert Oppenheimer, the theoretical physicist and father of the atom bomb. “There are secrets about the thoughts and intentions of men.”

What does the US, the richest and most powerful country in the world, have to envy of Cuba, its very poor, nominally Communist neighbour that is roughly 0.00001% its size? According to Barack Obama, healthcare and education.

How does a tribe live with the foreigner? Treat them too badly, and they won’t come. Treat them too well, and what is the privilege of being a citizen?

Last week, fans of the Minnesota Vikings American football team unveiled a new group chant to inspire their players. More than 66,800 fans clapped and shouted in unison as the tempo got faster and faster.

We here at Quartz are huge fans of sports. And amid the maelstrom of Olympic coverage, we’ve striven to find unusual, intelligent, and enlightening angles on the Rio Games that, we think, will make you understand aspects of the world’s greatest sporting contest in a new way.

England is leaving Europe—but this time, not of its own choice. It might just be a bigger shock than Brexit.

One of the fun things about the European soccer championship currently underway is watching teams play that aren’t in Europe, politically or geographically. Russia, for example, is currently under sanctions by the European Union and was thumped 3-0 by Wales last week. Turkey, which has been trying to join the EU and its predecessors since 1987, didn’t get out of the group stage.

“Nations have characters, as well as individuals.”Benjamin Disraeli