By Floyd Mayweather and Conor McGregor are set to do battle in the boxing ring in Las Vegas on August 26th.
The two fighting legends have exchanged jibes back and forth for what seems like an eternity but finally signed on the dotted line last month. Ever since, big names in the world of boxing and MMA have had their say on the bout that, whatever your opinion, is sure to be one of the most viewed and lucrative sporting events of all time.
The latest boxing icon to have his say is former Mayweather opponent, and eight-weight boxing world champion, Manny Pacquiao.
“McGregor has no chance in this fight,” Pacquiao told Yahoo Sports. “In fact, it could be very boring.”
Pac Man is better placed than most to make this call. He endured a 12-round snoozefest with Mayweather back in 2015 during which he was barely able to lay a single glove on Floyd.
“There is no way he will be able to land a meaningful punch on Floyd,” said Pacquiao. “How could he? He has no professional experience in boxing.”
Pacquiao is perhaps the second greatest boxer of his generation, behind ‘Money’ Mayweather, and also happens to be one of the fastest and most accurate punchers of all time. And yet he was only able to land a dismal total of 81 punches on Floyd none of which landed with any real venom.
In fact, across his undefeated 49-fight career I can only recall a handful of punches that troubled Mayweather. He’s only been knocked down once, and that was during a very easy win against Carlos Hernandez in 2001. You can see the punch below:
Fast-forward to his 2006 bout with Zab Judah, and it looked like Mayweather was on the floor once again only for the ‘knockdown’ to be judged as a slip.
The undefeated American is thought to be the greatest defensive boxer of all time, which bodes the question: how will somebody with no professional boxing experience be able to touch him?
Mike Tyson says the Irishman has no chance. He told Maxim McGregor “doesn’t have a chance,” and “won’t be able to touch Floyd.” That was a view shared by arguably the two current greatest boxers on the planet: Gennady Golovkin and Canelo Alvarez – who are due to face each other in a hotly anticipated match-up in September.
So is there even the slightest chance that Conor McGregor can win this thing? Of course there is.
Anyone who tuned into the Tony Bellew Vs. David Haye heavyweight fight this year will know that boxing has a habit of throwing up surprises. Beyond that, the man facing Mayweather is a known to be both heavy-handed and quick. As his rapid demolition of Jose Aldo at UFC 194 proved.
One thing we know for sure is that McGregor always trains hard and certainly isn’t shy of confidence. He’s going to get into that ring in the T-Mobile Arena in Vegas completely convinced he’s got what it takes to silence his critics. If he does, the rewards will be unfathomable… legendary.
If, as everyone in the first game is predicting, he fails then Mayweather will move to 50-0 which will take him one win ahead of the legendary Rocky Marciano. Thus once and for all cementing his place as the greatest boxer of all time.
Whether it’s going to be close, a bore-fest, a monumental upset or anything in between – it’s sure to draw record numbers of viewers from across the globe. And I’ll certainly be one of them.