UFC President Dana White offered Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Conor McGregor $25 million each to lock horns in the ring. With 18 of McGregor’s 21 wins coming by way of knockout, the 28-year-old UFC lightweight champ packs a wallop in his fists. By comparison, Floyd, who is 49-0 in his boxing career, has finished 26 opponents by knockout.
In an MMA fight Conor would no doubt mop the floor with Mayweather, but what about in a straight boxing bout? Could the Irishman figure out the nearly impenetrable defense of the boxing legend?
Conor McGregor’s head coach, John Kavanagh, seems to believe preparing for a Floyd Mayweather Jr. matchup would actually be easier to train for because there would only be one discipline to focus on, compared to mixed martial arts where one must prepare for the ground game as well as the standup.
According to Starsport, Kavanagh stated:
“To be honest, Ireland has a great boxing tradition and we have a great relationship with some of the pro boxing gyms in Ireland. … So in a weird way, you’re getting prepared to fight one of the best boxers there’s ever been. But in another way, it would actually almost feel like a break for us because we wouldn’t have to keep up the other skill sets. In mixed martial arts your trying to work on seven or eight different skill sets. Whereas in boxing, it’s one…it’s just boxing. It’d almost be like a break to only have to work on one and not work on everything.”
If the deal is right between McGregor and Mayweather and the two can agree on the terms, Kavanagh said they would bring in some experts to help McGregor get fully prepared. We’ll keep our fingers crossed.
Do you agree with coach Kavanagh and think it would be “almost like a break” for Conor to train for Floyd?