Dana White and the UFC are at it again. The president and face of the top mixed martial arts organization in the world is back to making noise, but this time not directed toward Meryl Streep. No, White’s now turned his attention back to his day job, and has apparently extended an offer to undefeated boxing legend Floyd Mayweather Jr. to come out of retirement and fight the UFC’s top star, Conor McGregor, in a boxing match.
This idea of a cross-sport bout between the two champions has been a fantasy matchup for fight fans, and White is planning to make it a reality. He reportedly offered Mayweather $25 million to take the fight, which “Money” scoffed at. It’ll certainly take a lot more negotiations to eventually make this thing a reality – remember how long Pacquiao-Mayweather took? But let’s suppose for a moment that they do actually step inside the ring together in 2017. Who comes out on top? Let’s break it down for both sides.
McGregor quickly rose to fame in MMA because of his brash mouth, which he used to talk trash to all of his opponents. But he’s also backed up all his talk in the Octagon with a string of vicious knockouts that launched him into title contention. Just this year, McGregor made history by becoming the first fighter to simultaneously hold two championships: the UFC’s Featherweight (145 lbs.) and Lightweight (155 lbs.) belts.
In terms of his striking, McGregor is one of, if not the very best in MMA on the feet, not just in his weight classes, but pound-for-pound in the sport. It’s his deadly combination of pinpoint accuracy and knockout power which he used to win both of his championships. At featherweight, he used a single punch to knock out previously undefeated champion Jose Aldo in just 13 seconds. And at lightweight, he consistently landed his patented left hand on champion Eddie Alvarez and knocked him down several times before scoring the TKO victory.
However, there’s a reason McGregor is such a long-shot bet to beat Floyd Mayweather in a boxing bout. While MMA does utilize boxing among its many disciplines, and McGregor – a former boxing champion at youth level in Ireland – is one of the very best boxers in the sport, it’s used in an entirely different style and context compared to the actual sport of boxing.
McGregor has never actually taken part in a professional boxing match, and hasn’t been able to devote as much time and effort into boxing because he also has to train for other disciplines in MMA. It remains to be seen whether his boxing skills are actually good enough outside of MMA to be a competitive pro boxer, much less good enough to beat an unbeatable champion like Mayweather.
That perfect record speaks for itself. Floyd Mayweather will go down as the best boxer of his generation, and deservedly so. Mayweather faced the very best fighter the sport had to offer for over two decades (Oscar De la Hoya, Shane Mosley, Zab Judah, Manny Pacquiao, etc.) and came up on top. Every. Single. Time.
While he’s had a lot of critics, mostly because of his indiscretions outside of the ring, he’s been as dominant in the ring as anyone’s ever seen. Mayweather doesn’t quite have the knockout power in his hands which made McGregor all the rage in MMA, but “Money’s” hand speed has done pretty well without it. And despite his diminished power, Mayweather should still be a lock to score the first knockdown (-600) if one does come in the fight.
However, what makes Mayweather virtually unmatched in the sport is his otherworldly defense. He just doesn’t get hit. You can count the number of official knockdowns he’s suffered with one hand, nee, one finger. That’s how remarkable he’s been. You’d have to wonder whether a non-professional boxer like McGregor could even land a single punch on Mayweather, even at age 39. Some may call Mayweather’s style boring, but it’s definitely effective.
In this matchup against two fighters from patently different sports, the one who gets to play by his own set of rules will always have the advantage. And in this matchup, it’s Mayweather. If McGregor and Mayweather got inside the Octagon for an MMA bout, McGregor should be a similarly huge favorite. But with Dana White and McGregor beholden to Mayweather, the much bigger draw, they’re stuck with boxing, and it really shouldn’t be much of a contest.
Prediction
The odds just speak for themselves. Mayweather is a boxing genius who didn’t lose once against the very best boxing had to offer, and he’s not going to lose against someone who only trains in boxing part-time, which is essentially what McGregor does in MMA.
It would definitely be quite a lead-up to the fight, with Mayweather and McGregor both capable of hyping up any fight with their innate charisma and magnetism. But when it finally comes time to get into the ring, Mayweather is almost certainly going to school McGregor on the finer arts of boxing en route to an easy, dominant victory.
As for the manner of victory, while the KO/TKO is currently the most popular result (-225), don’t overlook a decision (+170), which would be the most beneficial outcome for both parties.
Think Conor has a shot? Create a betting account now, and take the long odds on the Irishman pulling off the upset of the century.
