Can “Mystic Mac” beat “Money” Mayweather?

‘Fuck Floyd Mayweather’
– Conor McGregor

‘He has legitimate, scary one punch power, and he’s way bigger… it’s all about whether or not he can hit Mayweather’ – Joe Rogan

So, let’s waste no time. Is it possible? Absolutely. Is it probable? Not really. As an avid MMA and Conor fan, that’s a hard thing to say; of course I would like Conor to prevail. Throughout Conor’s journey in the UFC I have witnessed him achieve greatness, climb mountains no one thought possible – and all the while the media reassured him of his underdog status. The truth is that Conor revels in this status, he feels comfortable there.

So why does Conor have a chance? and why is this chance so miniscule almost every analyst is counting him out of this one?

Firstly, Conor is young (28 years old, in his physical prime), Floyd is not (40 years of age). secondly, he has a 1 inch height advantage and a 2 inch reach advantage. Notice these are simple biological facts, there are no indications of a serious skill advantage, they may be there, they may not. We have never seen Conor inside a boxing ring (professionally) so it’s impossible to say. Conor is an extremely talented striker, you need only watch his fights to respect that; but he is not a boxer. That being said, with a massive size and age difference, I belive Conor’s physicality and athleticism will be his sole hope in defeating Floyd.

Will he outbox Floyd? No, they could fight 100 times and he still would not be able to outbox Floyd. Yet, he will be faster than a 40-year-old-Floyd. Conor has a deceptive ability to hit you from outside the pocket, his movement and stance allow this; if you haven’t seen Conor fight you won’t understand his in-and-out movement, it allows Conor to hit his opponents, and simultaneously be out of his opponents reach.

“Floyd Mayweather is 40 years old; Conor McGregor is 27. Conor’s a big dude. Floyd has trouble with southpaws; Conor McGregor is a southpaw. And Conor McGregor hits like a truck. When he hits you, you know it.” – Dana White

All this being said, Floyd Mayweather is still Floyd Mayweather; 49-0 and probably the greatest boxer of all time, at least the greatest defensive boxer of all time. If he can overcome the effects of age and 2 years of ring rust, it’s going to be a long night for Conor, he will be throwing and missing, throwing and missing; eventually exhausting himself (which we have seen him do) and at that point Floyd will turn it up to 100 and put a beating on Conor like he hasn’t ever known.

At this point, all we can do it speculate, if it goes past the fifth round, I’d say Conor’s chances of winning go from about 10-15% to 1 or 2%.

You never know, maybe Conor gets frustrated in the twelfth and throws a Capoeira kick that lands heel to chin and knocks Floyd into the middle of next week. We can only sit (on the very edge of our seats) and wait to see what happens. One thing is for certain though, it is going to be one hell of a night!

 

N.W.H.