The sporting spectacle of the year is on the horizon! Connor McGregor and Floyd Mayweather will enter the ring on Saturday night and millions of people around the world will be tuning in with Popcorn in hand.
Some people have said that it’s a circus and ‘the money fight’ is just about that one thing: Money. But you know the people that say that will be tuning in to watch the fight.
Mayweather is one of the greatest boxers of all time, perhaps the best technically. Nobody has been able to touch him, not even Pacquiao, and his record stands at 49-0-0. With that in mind it can sound like an insult to say that this guy can come from a different sport and has a chance of beating Floyd. 49 have tried and failed, so how can someone who has never had a professional boxing match come and beat the five division world champion?
MMA and boxing are different sports that require different skills, so on paper Floyd Mayweather is the clear winner. But as we all know the fight is not fought on paper and upsets do happen. (Just ask Claudio Ranieri.)
McGregor is going into the fight as a 4-1 underdog but that will suit him down to the ground. Conor seems to thrive on being the underdog, but in his own head, he never is. His unwavering confidence and belief in himself has proved to be justified with his previous fights, overcoming the odds to knock out his UFC opponents. He’s the king of getting inside his opponents head and plays the psychological game better than anyone. Just look at the media tour a few weeks ago.
In Conor’s mind, he does have what it takes to beat Floyd. And he’s deadly serious about his dreams. That’s not enough by itself, but Conor has also shown a crazy ability to predict the outcomes of his fights, which shows that his visualisation techniques do work.
His unorthodox style and movement could be a problem for Mayweather, and it does only take one perfect punch to end a fight. The only problem for McGregor is that it’s almost impossible to hit Floyd – just ask one of his 49 opponents.
Of course on paper it looks as though McGregor hasn’t got a chance, but when you put two trained athletes inside a contained environment, anything can happen. But whatever happens in the ring, perhaps Conor has already achieved his biggest success when he talked the greatest boxer of a generation into the ring with him for a $200m fight despite having a 0-0-0 boxing record.
McGregor has the power and timing, Mayweather has the speed and precision, and I’ll be watching it for sure.
#mmlove