Conor McGregor is a fighter and above that he is a business man, so when he was asked about a potential fight against Floyd Mayweather he didn’t shy away from the possibility.
“I’m open to discussions, come at me,” said McGregor. “But I hold the key and it’s me who holds the key to the fight game. I am open minded, I am open to discussion, I love competition, I love fighting. It would be nice to make that fight if the fans were interested and wanted to see it.”
When asked if he’d be willing to make the fight a traditional boxing match Conor had this to say,
“I’m all about those numbers, so I would definitely do that, no problem.”
McGregor holds the 145lb title in the UFC and Floyd has spent the majority of his career at welterweight (147lbs), so the weights match up. Mayweather would obviously have a huge advantage over Conor but the south paw stance and awkward angles would give Conor a shot at looking respectable.
Conor also has serious power in his left hand, a punch he says no ‘midget’ at the lighter weights can handle. We’ve seen Floyd get hit hard before but rarely does he leave himself open for punishment and the size difference between a boxing ring and an octagon lends to Floyd’s skill set.
Floyd also has the experience advantage over McGregor. MMA rarely presents a fighter the opportunity to get into to 40’s in terms of career fights. McGregor has yet to reach the 20 fight plateau and his familiarity in a boxing ring is slim to none.
McGregor is a dangerous UFC fighter because he can mix in kicks to stay at range and use his capoeira movements to attack in a variety of ways. In boxing those movements are obsolete, which limits some of McGregor’s best strikes. Conor would make adjustments but Floyd’s proven to have one of the best boxing minds of all-time.
In fact, both men are amongst the best cerebral fighters their sports have ever seen. The proof is in their ability to take their opponents out of their game plan and force them to fight a style that suits them. It can also be seen in the way that they market themselves outside of the ring/cage.
Both men are masters at promoting fights and the recent history between the two give a potential boxing match more than enough material.
Here’s what started the rumors of a Mayweather-McGregor rivalry.
“I don’t really know the McGregor guy, never seen him fight,” Mayweather told FightHype.com. “I heard his name actually from one of the runners that works for our company – a little kid named Ken Hopkins. He’s a runner and takes care of a lot of the daily business. Whatever we need, he takes care of. He’s a cool little kid, I like him, and he does MMA. He told me about the guy McGregor.
They say he talks a lot of trash and people praise him for it, but when I did it, they say I’m cocky and arrogant. So biased! Like I said before, all I’m saying is this: I ain’t racist at all, but I’m telling you racism still exists.”
Conor responded in typical McGregor fashion.
The idea of a MMA fighter stepping in to challenge the decade’s best boxer is odd but the circumstances around these two fighters makes it almost reasonable.
Honestly, Conor couldn’t fare any worse than a worn down Manny Pacquiao and a fight between the two biggest stars in combat sports would help both boxing & MMA. At the very least it’d help put another $300-$500 million in Conor and Mayweather’s pockets.
Listen to The Corner Podcast For More UFC, Boxing & Pro Wrestling Talk:
