Floyd Mayweather respects Conor McGregor and admitted that the Irishman was “a lot better than I thought he was.”
But that doesn’t mean that the 50-0 legend would recommend ‘The Notorious’ give boxing another go by any means.
It took 10 rounds for ‘Money’ to put the debutant away on Saturday night and suggestions had been made, even by Mayweather’s own team, that McGregor could hang around the pugilism arena where there is significantly more money to be made than in MMA.
“I was actually very surprised with his ability to do certain things,” Mayweather Promotions CEO Leonard Ellerbe said during the post-fight press conference. “He definitely has – if he chooses to – he definitely has a future in boxing, if he chooses to.”
While Ellerbe believes that boxing would represent a feasible career path for McGregor, the man who just shared the ring with the UFC lightweight champion does not agree.
Mayweather is of the opinion that McGregor would not be able to hold his own against the younger, more aggressive fighters in boxing today in spite of his valiant showing in Las Vegas last weekend and that he should remain at the pinnacle of mixed martial arts.
Mayweather told Bernardo Osuna:
“Conor McGregor is a hell of a fighter and I want to see him continue to stay in the UFC and do what he does best.
“Because you must realise that I’m 40 years old and I’ve been off almost 800 days and he’s active. He’s actively fighting, actively training in a boxing gym and in the MMA/UFC gym.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B3lF1xd8uxA
“He’s active,” Mayweather continued, “he’s training, he’s competing whereas these other fighters, these young lions, they are throwing a lot more combinations than I’m throwing.
“I was just in the pocket, shooting one shot here and there and breaking him down slowly. Whereas you got these young active guys who are throwing a lot of combinations and would get him out of there a lot earlier.”
Those words tally with Oscar De La Hoya’s when he told The MMA Hour that Canelo Alvarez, his marquee boxer, would dispatch McGregor inside the first round if the pair ever met in a boxing ring.
Both Mayweather and De La Hoya should know what they are talking about but we’re not ruling out McGregor vs. Paulie Malignaggi out in 2018.
