By Allan Fox: Conor McGregor says he will beat boxing superstar Floyd Mayweather Jr. if he gives him a rematch so he can avenge his loss from August 26. Mayweather stopped McGregor in the 10th round of their event fight last Summer at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. Nevada.
There’s a lot of speculation about whether Mayweather will come out of his brief retirement for a rematch with McGregor. Mayweather said he wouldn’t fight again after beating McGregor last August. If Mayweather does come out of retirement, it’s going to make boxing fans question his word.
“If I got another go I would beat him,” said McGregor to Sky Sports News. “It’s a style of fighting that caught me off guard because he never fights like that. I did not prepare or anticipate it. Ultimately it got him the win. Much respect to him but it is what it is.”
McGregor says he was caught off guard when Mayweather adapted to what he refers to as the “Mexican style’ with him walking forward, throwing power shots and not using movement like he’d been doing in the earlier rounds. McGregor claims he didn’t train for this style of fighting, so he didn’t know how to handle it. McGregor tried to fight Mayweather off, but he ended up exhausting himself by throwing a lot of punches.
McGregor says he learned from his loss to Mayweather, and that he won’t repeat the same mistakes. However, without McGregor fighting some other guys inside the boxing ring, you have to take his word for it that he’s learned from his loss. There’s no way of knowing for sure if McGregor has improved or not, because he likely won’t fight anyone else before facing Mayweather in a rematch.
Former 2 division world champion boxer Paulie Malignaggi would like to fight McGregor inside the boxing ring, but it’s unlikely that fight will happen unless the Mayweather-McGregor rematch fails to take place.
McGregor still hasn’t returned to the UFC like he was supposed to for a fight before the end of the year. McGregor, 29, still holds the UFC lightweight title, and he hasn’t competed in the sport since last year in November. It’s unclear what is keeping him from returning to competition in the octagon. Some MMA fans believe the $100 million that McGregor made against Mayweather has him reluctant to return to the rough and tumble sport of MMA, which can be very brutal and with smaller paydays than the one he just received. If McGregor can get a rematch with Mayweather, he could make as much as $50 million.
The speculation is a second Mayweather vs. McGregor fight will only do have the numbers as the first fight, which brought in a possible 4 million buys on Showtime PPV. If the rematch does 2 million buys, then it’s still very good money for McGregor and Mayweather due to the likely high cost for the boxing and MMA fans in purchasing the fight on PPV. The price for ordering Mayweather-McGregor 2 would almost surely be $100 per household. Mayweather and McGregor would then split the loot up with Mayweather taking his $100 million+ and McGregor getting at least $50 million. With that kind of money, McGregor really doesn’t need to return to the UFC.
Mayweather picked up victory No.50 against McGregor despite the fact that he was facing a guy with a 0-0 record. The Nevada State Athletic Commission made a controversial move in sanctioning the Mayweather-McGregor fight as a true pro fight and not an exhibition bout, which it arguably should have been. Boxing has never seen a professional fighter with a 49-0 record facing a novice with a 0-0 record in a professional fight.