Mayweather vs McGregor Preview

Well, tonight is the night we've all been waiting for: the Mayweather vs McGregor fight. This fight has drawn up a ton of attention, for good reason. Who doesn't want to see these two egotistical maniacs going head to head in the ring? Hopefully, it'll be a good fight, though both fighters are predicting an early knockout and if you've been on twitter, you've seen all the McGregor fanboys completely underestimating the 49-0 Floyd Mayweather.

Let's break down this fight. Floyd is 49-0, arguably the greatest fighter of all time and without question the best defensive fighter of all time. Conor, is coming over from the UFC, making his professional boxing debut. When you put it that way, it seems Conor has absolutely no chance. However, you can't count McGregor out completely. Yes, I think Floyd will dominate this fight, but Conor has the size, the reach and is much, much younger. Maybe the Notorious McGregor does have a fool's chance. He is definitely strong enough and tough enough to go toe to toe with Mayweather, but many think he will not be able to touch him. Conor will definitely have to come out strong and look for an early knockout if he wants to win this fight. His style will be new. Floyd has never seen him box. No one has. So maybe that'll favor him early and allow him to land a couple big blows. Then again, many great boxers have tried and none have even knocked Mayweather down.

Official Prediction

I don't see Conor doing much damage. We are talking about a guy that has never boxed professionally going up against the greatest defensive fighter of all time. Sure, Floyd is not what he once was, but at this age he does not rely heavily on knocking his opponents out. He may have lost a step from his prime, but he has been out of his prime for a while and has adjusted well. He was never a big time knockout fighter and I don't believe he has a knockout win in the last 10 years but his defense has seemed unchanged. To me, that is something that doesn't age. A good comparison to this would be when an MLB pitcher that used to throw 95-99 MPH and as they get older that velocity dips. Typically, they go through an adjustment period where they need to relearn how to pitch relying on location and movement rather than just velocity (Verlander and Arrieta have gone through this recently). I feel this compares to Floyd's style. He used to rack up knockouts. Now, it's a miracle if that happens. Though he was always an incredible defensive boxer, he now has to solely rely on that because he does not have the power to put someone down. This is why I don't think the age matters all that much. Floyd knows what he is capable of. He is not dumb.

Im predicting a dominating Mayweather win via decision. I don't think McGregor will have much success landing on Floyd and that'll only get worse as they get deeper into the fight. He will possibly tire himself out early knowing he needs to knock Floyd out within the first few rounds. Mayweather said he is going to knock Conor out, but I do not see that happening.