With the much-anticipated Floyd Mayweather Jr. vs. Conor McGregor superfight quickly approaching, those in the boxing- and MMA-know continue to chime in with their thoughts on the cross-sport spectacle.
On Thursday, UFC president Dana White went on Jimmy Kimmel Live! to talk about the fight, including his thoughts on McGregor’s chances for victory. And while White stops short of a guarantee for the UFC champion to come out on top, he does deviate from the masses who overwhelming give Mayweather the nod for winning the bout. His rationale:
“When you put two people [together] anywhere—here, anywhere—and they start throwing punches, anything is possible. Floyd Mayweather is going to be 41 years old this year. If there is a kink in that armor, it has been with southpaws,” White told the host. “Conor McGregor is a southpaw. He is 28 years old and he hits like a truck. He has got 12 rounds to land that punch. When he hits people, they go. And if he hits Floyd, I think he will hurt him. And when he hurts people, he puts them away.”
It’s true that Mayweather has the edge, given that the battle will be all boxing—no leg kicks, flying knees, or takedowns. It does, however, leave one to wonder, what would the result be if the combatants stepped into the octagon for a UFC-formatted fight.
“Three seconds,” White quipped, referring to how long the fight would last. “That thing would be over real quick.” The UFC president went on to say, “The thing is that throwing punches is a part of what we do in the UFC, and Conor McGregor can throw some punches. That kid hits hard. The confidence this guy has in himself is unbelievable. I haven’t seen anything like this since [Muhammad] Ali…Floyd would take a couple of leg kicks, and that would be the end of that.”
Dana isn’t the only one who thinks McGregor can pull off the upset. Former UFC lightweight champion Eddie Alvarez also thinks “The Notorious” can come out on top, and has a few choice words for those who give the Irishman no chance. “Conor has about three or four rounds to get this done…Within those four rounds, if you don’t think Conor can knock this guy out, you’re an idiot or you just don’t know fighting because it can very well happen,” said Alvarez to MMAFighting.com. “If he doesn’t get it done by then, then it could look very one-sided. The technical boxing of Floyd Mayweather is enough to make it look really one-sided for him. But Conor, there is a very real chance that he can put him away.”
More concerned with the ramifications of the fight than the outcome is former boxing champion Oscar De La Hoya. In a recent USA Today piece, De La Hoya continued to express his displeasure with the cross-sport showdown in the desert. “Part of the reason why I’ve been so vocal with Mayweather is that he has made it into business,” De La Hoya said. “It’s just a spectacle. It’s trash talk and once the fight comes around it is a bore. It’s a dud. It should be the other way around. I personally think as a promotor, (Mayweather) has not been good for boxing. Because fighters now are thinking all about business and not thinking about the fight. And not thinking about the fans.
