THE finest boxer of his era, Floyd Mayweather has locked horned with MMA sensation Conor McGregor as the two countdown towards their August 26 bout in Las Vegas.
Boxing legend Barry McGuigan considered the impact of their contest. “Good for boxing in many ways, also bad for it because it’s like a circus with this. It’s like WWE wrestling. He’s an incredible self-publicist, incredible self-publicist. He is UFC. You think UFC, what you’re thinking about is Conor McGregor, jumping up and beating his chest on top of the cage. He is a terrific personality. But he’ll get the head boxed off him,” McGuigan said.
He expects McGregor to be out of his depth against Mayweather. “If he doesn’t get stopped, I’ll be disappointed. But the other thing, when the fight comes on, Mayweather will have been out almost three years and he’s 40 years old. So that’s something and he’s never had good hands, so he might not be able to hit him hard enough to make a difference. Plus the fact that McGregor puts on 20 pounds after a weigh-in, so he’ll come into the ring at 174lbs. He’ll be a light-heavyweight in the ring. That is significant in your ability to absorb punishment and digest power and take a shot. He’s awkward too, southpaw, got that crabby style,” McGuigan mused.
“If Mayweather didn’t punch the head off him, I would be hugely disappointed. It’s good and bad, the bad side is it’s just over the top. But for once you see Mayweather diminished. He’s not the main protagonist from a speaking point of view. Which is remarkable when you think about.”
McGregor has been permitted to go straight into a 12 round fight, without a tune up, in his professional boxing debut, against Floyd Mayweather no less. “I am surprised by Nevada, who are one of the premier organisations in the world for safety and rules and regulations and all of that sort of stuff,” McGuigan said. “Money just wins every time. It’s good for the sport in many ways because it’ll be a massive television audience, it’ll be massive.
“But I don’t expect it to be mildly competitive. Even mildly competitive.”
