By Allan Fox: Amir Khan isn’t giving UFC fighter Conor McGregor much of a chance to upset Floyd Mayweather Jr. in their fight this Saturday night in Las Vegas, Nevada. Khan says Mayweather is likely going to get his first knockout in a long, long time when he meets McGregor on Saturday night at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Khan doesn’t understand why the odds for Mayweather-McGregor fight aren’t wider than they are. He sees the odds as crazy. Khan talks about how Mayweather and McGregor have done a good job of selling the fight to make the boxing and MMA fans think this is a tough fight to pick a winner.
As far as Khan is concerned, there can be only one winner and that’s Mayweather. He sees his boxing ability and experience to be too much for McGregor.
“Floyd wins this fight in good style,” said Khan to IFL TV in remarking on the Mayweather vs. McGregor fight. “He’s the better boxer and the more experienced fighter compared to Conor.”
McGregor is just starting out learning about boxing. He’s been doing MMA, and he’s just some guy that was picked out by Mayweather because he’s bringing in a tremendous amount of PPV buys for his fights in the UFC. There’s no one in boxing that is bringing the PPV numbers that McGregor is.
Even Saul Canelo Alvarez is nowhere near the PPV attraction that McGregor is, and he likely never will be. Canelo has been unable to take his career to the next level. Mayweather spotted McGregor out with his eagle eyes, saw that he brings in massive amounts of PPV buys for his fights in the UFC, and he setup a fight with him.
What makes the Mayweather-McGregor fight so popular is the convergence of McGregor’s MMA fans and Mayweather’s fans from boxing. The two sports have come together to see this event. There may not be anything like this again for a long, long time. If Mayweather trounces McGregor, a lot of MMA fans will learn their lesson and steer clear of purchasing fights involving UFC fighters facing boxers.
“Take him down with an elbow,” said Khan when asked what Conor should do to beat Mayweather. “Boxing wise, nah. This is Mayweather’s craft. Mayweather is a good boxer. No one is ever going to out-box Mayweather. Conor is an MMA fighter. He’s a good MMA fighter. When it comes to boxing, he’s shown some good skills. But with all the skills he showed in the cage, you can’t say he’s going to beat Mayweather, who is one of the best in boxing,” said Khan.
It’s very unlikely that McGregor is going to be able to land a big enough shot for him to KO Mayweather, and that’s really his only chance McGregor has of winning this fight. He’s not going to box his way to a decision against Mayweather, because of the vast skill advantage he has over him.
McGregor has been speaking endlessly lately about how he’s going to knockout Mayweather within the first 2 rounds. It’s as if McGregor understands that he needs to get Mayweather out quickly for him to have a chance of winning. Once the fight goes past the 2nd round, McGregor will start taking a lot of punishment with the 8oz gloves that Mayweather will be wearing for the fight, and he’s not going to be able to withstand the hard shots.
”I think it’s going to be a one-sided fight,” said Khan. ”Mayweather is going to make him miss. He’s going to hurt him when he wants. He’s going to play with him. This could be Mayweather’s first stoppage in a long time. He throws it slow, and he shows he’s going to throw a punch as well,” said Khan about McGregor’s punching style.
McGregor has a bad habit of telegraphing his shots. He appears to do this partly for show to impress the MMA fans. McGregor has decent hand speed, but it’s not on the level of guys like Saul Canelo Alvarez. He’s never going to be blazing fast like him. That doesn’t mean that McGregor can’t win the fight. It just means he’s not going to beat Mayweather by staying on the outside and throwing long power shots at him. No one is going to beat Mayweather fighting like that.
McGregor can do well if he stays in close, smothers Mayweather and mugs him. McGregor can land short punches while grappling with Mayweather, and those are the type of shots that don’t require a lot of amazing hand speed. Khan seems to be overlooking McGregor’s grappling skills. He’s someone that can definitely take the fight to the inside and get the better of Mayweather by roughing him up, and throwing short punches that can’t miss.
“I think Mayweather is going to see that. As soon as he flinches, McGregor, he’s going to hit him with a combination,” said Khan. ”I see him winning this fight quite comfortably. The way they sold the fight is amazing; thinking it’s going to be a fight where we don’t know where to pick from. It’s Mayweather all day for me. McGregor, I can’t see him winning this fight. I don’t think he even has a chance on his back foot,” said Khan.
Mayweather and McGregor did a great job of marketing their fight to make it look like it’s going to be a good fight. It wasn’t so much Mayweather that did the sensational job of selling the fight. It’s been all McGregor. He’s the one that has been giving constant interviews about the fight, making increasingly bolder predictions with each passing day.
McGregor has had new things to say for many of his interviews, whereas Mayweather has been stuck in a rut, saying the same things repeatedly about how McGregor is a “Tough competitor” and “He must have done something right to get to where he is now.” Those are quotes that Mayweather uses for every fight. He dusts the quotes off and uses them over and over. It’s McGregor that has worked hard to promote the fight. He knows that the more he talks the more money he’ll make from the PPV.
”I don’t think he has anywhere near the power to hurt someone like Mayweather,” said Khan. ”If he does, he’ll show us all. That’s why the odds are crazy. I think they should have been a lot more wider. Everyone is favoring Mayweather to win this fight. That says it all. Mayweather has taken big shots from the likes of Canelo and Shane Mosley. He’s taken those shots. I don’t think McGregor has the same power as those guys,” said Khan.
I disagree with Khan about his opinion that McGregor doesn’t have the power to hurt Mayweather. I think McGregor definitely has enough power to hurt Mayweather. Mosley wasn’t the biggest puncher when he moved up in weight from the lightweight division to welterweight, and he was able to hurt Mayweather.
McGregor is a bigger puncher than Mosley from what I can see of him. Even if McGregor isn’t as powerful as Mosley, if he hits Mayweather enough times with the 8oz gloves in close, he’s going to hurt him eventually. If McGregor has Mayweather tied in knots against the ropes, he’ll be able to nail him with a free hand with repeated shots to the head. Those punches that McGregor was hitting Paulie Malignaggi with while tied up in a clinch with him during their sparring looked hurtful. If McGregor can land those kinds of shots on Mayweather, he’s going to do damage to him.
”I think the small gloves are definitely going to hurt McGregor,” said Khan. ”He’s also going to work the body as well. I think he’s going to slow McGregor down with those body shots. McGregor is open for a lot as well. His defense is not the best. Like I said, it’s a one-sided fight,” said Khan.
Mayweather will get the better of McGregor if there’s space between the two of them. If McGregor makes the mistake of letting Mayweather fight on the outside, then he’s not going to have any chance of winning this fight. It’s not going to go his way at all in this fight. I just don’t think he’s going to do that. McGregor has to have seen how Marcos Maidana was able to give Mayweather problems in their first fight when he trapped him against the ropes in 2014. Maidana wasn’t even mauling Mayweather and forcing him against the ropes. Mayweather volunteered to fight off the ropes for some reason.
”I’ll be back inside the ring in November,” said Khan about his next fight. “I had a hand operation. I recovered well. I can’t wait to get back in the ring and do my thing. It’s been a while, but I’ve been training. I’ve been keeping fit. My hand is feeling good now. I just had my third operation on my hand. I’m good to go. I’m in shape. I’d be ready to fight tomorrow if I had to go,” said Khan.
Khan has been out of the ring since he was knocked out in the 6th round by Canelo in their fight in May 2016. Khan was knocked unconscious in that fight. Not long after that contest, Khan had hand surgery to repair a problem in his right hand. Unfortunately, the surgery has subsequently kept him out of the ring for almost a year and a half now. It’ll be interesting to see how good Khan looks when/ if he fights in November. He was supposed to have returned to action in April, but for some reason he opted not to fight. Now he’s talking about wanting to return to the ring in November. I wouldn’t be surprised if Khan doesn’t fight again until 2018.
