By Allan Fox: Conor McGregor proved in the first 6 rounds that he had better boxing skills than Floyd Mayweather Jr. did last Saturday night. Making his debut in the sport, McGregor out-boxed Mayweather tough the first half of the fight at the T-Mobile Arena, in Las Vegas, Nevada.
It was only after fatigue set in for McGregor, 29, that Mayweather was able to come on and stop the UFC fighter in round 10 of their mega-fight on Showtime pay-per-view. McGregor said after the fight that in a rematch, he would be ready for Mayweather’s style of fighting. Unfortunately for McGregor, the chances of him getting a rematch against Mayweather are slim at this time.
I wouldn’t say they’re impossible, because few boxing fans would have thought that Mayweather would make a comeback in 2017 after earning $300 million for his fight against Manny Pacquiao in 2015. McGregor believes Mayweather wasn’t smart with his money, and that he had to come back to make more money. If Mayweather did burn through his winnings from the Pacquiao in just 2 years, then it’s quite possible he’ll burn through the money he gets for the McGregor fight.
Mayweather has been saying lately that he’ll be getting $350 million from Showtime for the McGregor fight. Surely, Mayweather wouldn’t burn though $350M in just 2 years with his spending habits. If Mayweather goes come back, he’s probably going to need to find another inexperienced UFC fighter to face. McGregor might not be on top of the UFC in 2 years. That’s an organization that sees a quick turnover for their stars. It’s always someone new. McGregor could be passé soon.
Mayweather would need to pick another top UFC guy, and hope that the boxing and MMA public aren’t wise to his match-making habits. Mayweather looked so bad against McGregor, it’s hard to believe that he was at one time the best fighter in boxing. Mayweather clearly isn’t now. He just looks like an old guy, with little power, and moderately fast hand speed. The 2 years that Mayweather has been out of the ring has caused a lot of deterioration in his skillset.
McGregor counted 3 separate times in the fight where Mayweather changed his fighting style and gave him a different look. McGregor feels that he would know how to deal with all 3 styles in a rematch. McGregor says he already proved that he could beat Mayweather with just boxing, and he could get the better of him when he was against the ropes. The thing that gave McGregor the most problems was when Mayweather put his hands to his forehead and walked forward, putting his hand on McGregor’s chest and throwing shots in what he calls the “Mexican style” of fighting. McGregor didn’t do well against that style.
“I thought it was an early stoppage, and I felt the fight was close,” said McGregor. “I felt like I was dominating the early rounds. I had that fatigue later, and he capitalized on that. That’s what experience as a champion will give you. I signed to fight under the Marquis of Queensbury rules. I’m happy for him, 50-0. I hope he’s good with his money. I hope this is the last time we see him,” said McGregor.
Many fans thought the fight was close. Boxing News 24 had McGregor winning 5 rounds to 4 at the time of the stoppage in round 10. Referee Robert Byrd stopped the fight a little too quickly in the 10th round, says McGregor. He felt that the fight should have been allowed to continue. He thought he would be fine once he got a rest after the 10th, because he was a little fatigued during that round.
McGregor says he wasn’t hurt. He was just really tired. Round 6 was one that could have gone either way. If you scored it for McGregor, then you can say that he was ahead 6 rounds to 3 at the time the fight was stopped. The only clear rounds that Mayweather won was rounds 7, 8 and 9. Those were definitely Mayweather’s rounds.
”I think the fatigue got me in the end. It was an even fight, even from the skills perspective,” said McGregor. ”I thought his composure was impressive. If I fought him again, it would be different. All I have to do to prepare for is a guy that puts his hands on his forehead and comes forward, Mexican style,” said McGregor.
Mayweather landed 170 of 320 punches for a connect percentage of 53 percent, according to CompuBox’s stats. That’s a very high percentage of connects for Mayweather. He wasn’t many of his shots. However, Mayweather’s punches looked much weaker than McGregor’s. There was no comparison between the powers of the shots. When McGregor would land, you could tell, because there was often a loud impact. When Mayweather landed shots, it was quiet, with seemingly far less power behind them.
McGregor landed 111 of 430 punches for a connect percentage of 26. Both fighters were landing a lot of jabs in the fight. McGregor’s jabs seemed to be the more powerful. He was sticking his right arm far out in front of him the way that heavyweight Wladimir Klitschko used to do, and then snapping his jabs off to the head of Mayweather. There were many times in the fight where Mayweather would get hit by McGregor’s jabs when he would try and come forward to land one of his own shots. McGregor’s jab was a great weapon in neutralizing Mayweather’s offense. However, after McGregor faded in round 6, Mayweather was able to walk him down without getting hit hard by his jabs.
”He changed his approach 3 times,” said McGregor about Mayweather. ”He came out boxing, and he got out-boxed. He came out to defend against the ropes, and I was picking him off against the ropes, and then he resorted to hands on his forehead and head on the chest, Mexican style. That’s what a champion can do though, adapt 3 times in the middle of a fight. Not just once, not just twice; 3 times he changed,” said McGregor.
Mayweather and McGregor fought in front of 14,623 fans at the T-Mobile Arena last Saturday night. It’s unclear if the T-Mobile sold up. There were reports that tickets were still available just days before the fight. McGregor, 29, proved a lot of doubters wrong about him not having the boxing skills to be competitive with Mayweather.
In the end, McGregor’s skills looked just as good as Mayweather’s. The only thing that Mayweather had over McGregor was better stamina. Mayweather was able to relax more, walk forward and throw shots when McGregor was gassing out after 5 rounds.
Mayweather picked up his record-breaking 50th win of his career and he now sits on top of the sport with a perfect 50-0 record. A lot of people in the boxing world are less than happy with the way Mayweather broke Rocky Marciano’s long standing 49-0 record. But the sport is different now. Back in Marciano’s era, there was only one world title for his weight class. That meant you had to fight the best to win the title, and then hold onto it. In this era, there are 4 different sanctioning bodies with 5 potential world titles at stake. It’s been a lot easier for Mayweather to be matched to keep him winning than it was for Marciano. Mayweather never fought a lot of the best fighters in the sport in divisions he was fighting in. Despite being the WBA welterweight champion in 2014 and 2015, Mayweather never fought his leading contender Keith Thurman. That’s a fight Mayweather could have lost. Mayweather never fought Paul Williams when he was fighting at 147 and dominating everybody years ago. Mayweather didn’t fight the Charlo brothers, Demetrius Andrade or Erislandy Lara. Breaking the 49-0 record was more about skillful match-making for Mayweather than it was about him fighting the best. McGregor was making his pro debut in boxing against Mayweather. Marciano’s 49th win of his career came against the great Archie Moore. There’s a huge difference between what Marciano accomplished in going 49-0 and what Mayweather did in beating his record with a 50-0 mark.
Mayweather will now go back into retirement, he says. Mayweather was asked if he would come back to fight another time if he were offered a huge amount of money, and he said he wouldn’t. Of course, if Mayweather blows through his fortune with out of control spending on cars, bad investments, planes and whatever else, it’s possible he could come back if his money evaporates quickly. Mayweather is a boxer, not a well-schooled businessman. It takes knowledge to know how to invest in the right things, and it takes self-control not to throw money away on gambling and wasteful spending. It’s very possible that Mayweather will return to the ring in the near future to continue his boxing career in my opinion. The thing is, Mayweather will need to do it soon. Fighting just once every 2 years is not going to keep Mayweather popular. He was lucky that the media was able to help drum up interest in his fight against McGregor. Without the media doing all the heavy lifting with the coverage of Mayweather, his fight with McGregor might not have done well. Mayweather will need to come back soon if he wants another big payday. I just don’t know how much interest there will be from the boxing and MMA fans if the only fighters that Mayweather is interested in facing are from MMA. I think the fans would pay to see Mayweather fight another MMA fighter like McGregor if he competes with him in the UFC. But I don’t see it catching on a second time if Mayweather hand-picks another UFC fighter to face in the boxing ring. The fans will know who’s going to win, and they’ll likely ask why isn’t Mayweather fighting the talented fighters from that sport.
