Support NeoGAF

[pixelation]

It's because the public at large ate this shit up. I didn't watch the fight because it was nothing more than a hyped spectator event, but apparently I was in the minority here. Every single boxing person who I've seen speak on this has stated Floyd basically gave Conor the first three rounds. The difference of opinion is that it might have been to let Conor punch himself out, to feel Conor's style out out or to make the fight appear like more than a hyped shit show. I have a feeling it was all three.

The only thing people should have taken from that fight is that the two sports are not at all compatible. Boxing is an art and so is MMA but the crossover is far to minimal. If an MMA guy goes to box he will get worked and vice versa. It just is what it is.

The public saw three garbage rounds and thought, "Conor has a shot" when he never did. Now I gotta read ESPN article and shit suggesting other MMA vs Boxing combos and I just roll my eyes. It's money though and apparently people are willing to spend it on this shit.

Yep, how i wish Mayweather would've used his trademarked style so that Conor would've punched nothing but air, still gassed out (maybe even quicker from hitting nothing) and gotten finished earlier, the amount of people who spew shit saying that he posed a bigger threat than Pac ever did... well to the untrained eye he did, because Mayweather didn't fight Pac using the same style than he did Conor, he carried McG to make the fight look competitive. He knew he never posed a credible threat, people talk about Floyd's pillow punches, what about Conor's though?, his power was all but gone in the boxing ring.

 

[Sentenza]

So he went 10 rounds against the best in the world and that's somehow bad?

We talked a bit about this in the previous pages, but just to reiterate:

people who aren't familiar with boxing may be overstating this "best in the world" thing.

Mayweather is one of the most skilled boxers alive today (even if way past his prime), but he's far from the most dangerous.
He's not particularly heavy-handed, for a start, and since he moved above the 130 pounds he's always been more concerned with his defense and outscoring his opposition than genuinely beating them.

Now, let's pretend for a minute that he didn't carry McGregor for these 10 rounds in what was essentially a glorified sparring session...
There are plenty of other boxers, even among those that Floyd already outclassed in the past, that would be a far, FAR more dangerous match up for someone like Conor.
They wouldn't limit themselves to "holding back and studying the opponent".
They would go in "seek and destroy" mode from the beginning. With very high chances to succeed, given the gap in skill.

Imagine if McGregor wasn't against a smaller, 40 years old guy with light brittle hands, coming back from a 2 years retirement, but instead against someone like Canelo, Golovkin, Spence Jr, Crawford, the Charlo brothers, etc.
And these are fighters in the 147-160 pounds range.

If we went above, in the 168+ (which is still below the max weight Conor fighted in, for the UFC) there would be genuine power freaks like Kovalev, Stevenson, Beterbiev, etc. Or very skilled fighters like Ward.

 

[mr jones]

i know mayweather has had some flimsy title defences or avoiding some fights but for him to be happy with a ufc fighter as his 50th win must play on him somehow

$300+ million to do a creampuff fight, fam. AND it shows as a legit stat???

It's like winning the damn lottery. Floyd will sleep just fine.

We talked a bit about this in the previous pages, but just to reiterate:

people who aren't familiar with boxing may be overstating this "best in the world" thing.

Mayweather is one of the most skilled boxers alive today (even if way past his prime), but he's far from the most dangerous.
He's not particularly heavy-handed, for a start, and since he moved above the 130 pounds he's always been more concerned with his defense and outscoring his opposition than genuinely beating them.

Now, let's pretend for a minute that he didn't carry McGregor for these 10 rounds in what was essentially a glorified sparring session...
There are plenty of other boxers, even among those that Floyd already outclassed in the past, that would be a far, FAR more dangerous match up for someone like Conor.
They wouldn't limit themselves to "holding back and studying the opponent".
They would go in "seek and destroy" mode from the beginning. With very high chances to succeed, given the gap in skill.

Imagine if McGregor wasn't against a smaller, 40 years old guy with light brittle hands, coming back from a 2 years retirement, but instead against someone like Canelo, Golovkin, Spence Jr, Crawford, the Charlo brothers, etc.
And these are fighters in the 147-160 pounds range.

If we went above, in the 168+, there would be genuine power freaks like Kovalve, Ward, Stevenson, Beterbiev, etc.

It would be absolutely brutal. Not only would it be damaging to McGregor's brand, it could legit fuck him up like it fucked up Rousey fighting Holm. It could break him as a fighter.

 

[Moze]

Yeah I wouldn't go that far. Props to getting in the ring for a sport he is clearly uncomfortable performing in

But his performance stunk. It became painfully aware at the first round alone that Floyd was letting him have his fun for a bit to save the fight

What in the hell at the hammer fists though. That was just embarrassing

So you acknowledge his performance was laughably bad but say he deserves respect for getting in the ring with Floyd?

Nonsense. He deserves no respect for fighting Floyd for all that money. It's a privilege to fight Floyd, but it is not brave. Acting like there is a single MMA fighter right now that would duck a fight with Floyd lel.

 

[HiiiLife]

Has there been a short heavyweight as monstrous as Tyson??? Or Frazier.

 

[Next]

.

Sure, Floyd was probably tthe safest fight he could take at that level. Did you expect the fight to last 10 rounds though? I think he did as well as he could have, considering this is literally his first professional boxing match.

 

[NastyBook]

The Maytrix: https://gfycat.com/PleasingSereneGalapagosalbatross

Counter hook from a back sway? What just happened there??

 

[Angelus Errare]

Counter hook from a back sway? What just happened there??

Floyd punishes folks with that move A LOT

 

[see5harp]

Come on people. You naming prime fighters in the weight class that would all destroy this dude. You could get a washed up Manny Pacquiao. Basically someone willing to trade blows to do huge damage like Cotto. Any of these older guys would take those shots and full on brawl. Floyd was picking his shots and landing effective punches but he wasn't in there trying to kill the guy.

 

[Stripper13]

Sure, Floyd was probably tthe safest fight he could take at that level. Did you expect the fight to last 10 rounds though? I think he did as well as he could have, considering this is literally his first professional boxing match.

I don't buy this line of thought. How low were expectations for McGregor that he some how performed better than expected.
I have no idea what your stance was before the fight, but most of the people I've spoken to who think he did well given it's his first boxing match, and thought it was impressive he went 10 rounds - are the very same people telling me before the fight that McGregor is super fast, unorthodox, has a savage left or just a freak of a fighter in general.

All of that fell apart the moment the fight started and it seems that MMA and/or McGregor fans are now saying he did well for his first fight. No. Not really. Better than you and I definitely - but given the hype and shit being thrown before the fight, he was not even close to Mayweathers level.

 

[Dr.Acula]

If he didn't fight him the narrative would have been he is scared or dodging him.

Today yes, but 20 years from now people wouldn't take that "dodging" narrative seriously, If you found out that in 1999 Chuck Liddell challenged Evander Holyfield and that Evander ignored him, would you care? Hell, Mayweather was literally retired. Conor calls out a retired fighter in a sport he's never competed in and it reflects worse on Mayweather than Conor? What's next? Conor vs. Agassi in a tennis match?

 

[SallyIsNow]

All the "Conor did better than we thought" posts lol

Floyd fucking let him do that well. How many times will this have to be said.

 

[TheGreatMightyPoo]

Has there been a short heavyweight as monstrous as Tyson??? Or Frazier.

David Tua was pretty dangerous.

 

[Sentenza]

Sure, Floyd was probably the safest fight he could take at that level.

Well, I'm glad we can at least agree on this point.

Did you expect the fight to last 10 rounds though?

Well, sort of?
A lot of boxing amateurs in my circle actually predicted it (without putting a specific number of rounds in, admittedly).
We spent time talking about this at our gym, and the common opinion among the most experienced was that, unless this turned out to be surprisingly more competitive that we anticipated, they would carry the fight for few rounds before putting an end to it.

Now, let's start saying that hyperbolic statements like "He won't be touched once" have been used before in the past and they are always bullshit. Every fighter gets hit and Floyd is not untouchable, he has been hit before even by sloppy pressure fighters.
The point is always WHAT hits you and how you can take it and react.

Back to this fight... I don't want to sound too dismissive, but if there's one thing that impressed me about Conor, and in a negative way, is how quickly he emptied the tank.
If there was an area where I expected him to be more competitive is in terms of raw power and conditioning.
Turns out he was unremarkable, if not even openly bad, on both fronts... So I won't deny I'm having a hard time embracing this new narrative about "Conor doing incredibly well all things considered".

 

[see5harp]

Floyd wasn't as sharp as we've seen in the past though. I think it's fair to say that. I feel like a prime aggressive high volume puncher even just a random dude within 2 weight classes would have made it look even worse. I mean do you honestly think McGregor would have been able to survive like 10 rounds with a guy like Vasyl Lomachenko? McGregror's face would have been butchered.

 

[Mael]

Today yes, but 20 years from now people wouldn't take that "dodging" narrative seriously, If you found out that in 1999 Chuck Liddell challenged Evander Holyfield and that Evander ignored him, would you care? Hell, Mayweather was literally retired. Conor calls out a retired fighter in a sport he's never competed in and it reflects worse on Mayweather than Conor? What's next? Conor vs. Agassi in a tennis match?

Tell me you wouldn't want to see a Conor vs Sampras tennis match though!

 

[Dr.Acula]

Back to this fight... I don't want to sound too dismissive, but if there's one thing that impressed me about Conor, and in a negative way, is how quickly he emptied the tank.
If there was an area where I expected him to be more competitive is in terms of raw power and conditioning.
Turns out he was unremarkable, if not even openly bad, on both fronts... So I won't deny I'm having a hard time embracing this new narrative about "Conor doing incredibly well all things considered".

As a guy who's watched all of Conor's UFC fights, his conditioning was absolutely improved in this fight, and I was surprised that he made it through 7 rounds (despite huffing and puffing) without falling down.

 

[Sentenza]

Floyd wasn't as sharp as we've seen in the past though. I think it's fair to say that. I feel like a prime aggressive high volume puncher even just a random dude within 2 weight classes would have made it look even worse. I mean do you honestly think McGregor would have been able to survive like 10 rounds with a guy like Vasyl Lomachenko? McGregror's face would have been butchered.

Eh, dunno,
Lomachenko is a very skilled fighter.
Arguably even the most skilled fighter on the rise today, but he's also A LOT smaller than these guys.
Almost twenty pounds smaller than Floyd yesterday, in fact, and he was already the smaller guy on the ring.

 

[cordy]

I don't get it...

Floyd said the fight would go this way before the match.
Floyd did exactly as he said he'd do in the match.
Floyd explained the same strategy after the match.

How are these "but Conor went 10 rounds" posts making sense when he was doing exactly what Floyd laid out? Have you people seen any Floyd matches? Floyd hasn't ended a fight in 1 round since the 90s because that's not his strategy. Doesn't matter who it's against, that's not what he does nor is that anything he said he'd do.

It's like people are clenching straws because they were wrong. Just call it like it is. Floyd let him have 10 rounds because he followed the strategy he said he'd follow which is the same strategy he always uses.

 

[see5harp]

Eh, dunno,
Lomachenko is a very skilled fighter.
Arguably even the most skilled fighter on the rise today, but he's also A LOT smaller than these guys.
Almost twenty pounds smaller than Floyd yesterday, in fact, and he was already the smaller guy on the ring.

He's quicker than Floyd at 40, throws many more punches, has a lot more foot movement. The fight would be stopped on cuts before it even got to round 10 in my mind. And Vasyl could come in off the street at 150 without training. I'd still take a guy like that with over 300 amateur fights over a fully trained Conor.

 

[GalacticToast]

All the "Conor did better than we thought" posts lol

Floyd fucking let him do that well. How many times will this have to be said.

So what? Conor made it into the 10th round, something that basically no one with any sort of knowledge in boxing thought would happen. He landed a couple of shots on Floyd and although they basically did no damage, I doubt Floyd purposely let himself get upper cut.

If you ask me, someone fighting in their first professional boxing match, as much as a circus as it might be, against Floyd Mayweather should be put away in the first 3 rounds. He wasn't. Y'all can say that Floyd let him survive and could have finished him when he wanted to, which is probably true. But he didn't. McGregor did better than I expected. It doesn't mean he did great. It's not that hard to understand.

 

[Next]

I don't buy this line of thought. How low were expectations for McGregor that he some how performed better than expected.

How low are the expectations of a guy making his pro debut against Floyd Mayweather? Granted Conor is not starting from 0, but still.

.

I'll assume you didn't watch his fights against Diaz, otherwise you'd known about his lack of conditioning. The lack of power surprised me too though.

 

[GalacticToast]

How much do boxing gloves vs UFC gloves play into the difference in power?

 

[Next]

How much do boxing gloves vs UFC gloves play into the difference in power?

I assume not much. He just doesn't know how to transfer his weight into the punches as well. Seemed like a lot of arm punches.

 

[Sentenza]

How much do boxing gloves vs UFC gloves play into the difference in power?

Very little.
If anything because regardless of what type of gloves are in use, it's a leveled playing field for both fighters.

Anyone who trained in boxing knows that big sparring gloves can cushion the punches to some extent, but that's more in terms of protecting bones and avoiding cuts than lowering the power to concuss.
Power comes mostly from the "kinetic chain": how you leverage on your legs, turn hips and shoulders, extend your arm, etc.

Here's a semi-scientific take on it:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iAqfO6Y9wys

 

[Stinkles]

You don't know what you are talking about. Don't bother to reply I won't be reading yours any further.


Edit: 40 years and you argue this and in this manner smh the player pool alone of boxers are thousands if not millions more. You ignore literally everything and your posts are just an endless stream of Mayweather hatewank.

I'm still reading yours because they're laughable and I needed a good laugh after that epic waste of everyone's time. And whatever the bolded is supposed to mean, doesn't make a lick of sense.

 

[Fenderputty]

So what? Conor made it into the 10th round, something that basically no one with any sort of knowledge in boxing thought would happen. He landed a couple of shots on Floyd and although they basically did no damage, I doubt Floyd purposely let himself get upper cut.

If you ask me, someone fighting in their first professional boxing match, as much as a circus as it might be, against Floyd Mayweather should be put away in the first 3 rounds. He wasn't. Y'all can say that Floyd let him survive and could have finished him when he wanted to, which is probably true. But he didn't. McGregor did better than I expected. It doesn't mean he did great. It's not that hard to understand.

This disconnect is people taking "Conor did better than expected" and turning that into "could Conor, or other MMA fighters, do other crossover fights? Could they win?" and that should be a laudable question at this point.

I assume not much. He just doesn't know how to transfer his weight into the puches as well. Seemed like a lot of arm punches.

This. Power comes from leverage. He has not clue how to move and plant and punch like a pro would.

 

[StreetDisciple]

Counter hook from a back sway? What just happened there??

Called a pull counter...The move Skip Bayless didn't know what it was when asked by FM SR.

 

[LookAtMeGo]

Facebook feed is blowing up with "conor threw his punches, the fight was fixed" lolol

 

[GoldenCrow]

How much do boxing gloves vs UFC gloves play into the difference in power?

Not much. Gloves are to protect the hands rather than reduce power. The difference in power is the footwork. MMA fighters are usually square as they have wrestling to deal with and most of their heavy attacks come from kicks, whereas boxers are at an angle to drive through their feet to generate the power. Both fighters were square the majority of the fight. I have seen very few boxing boxing matches where a fighter will stand square unless they are taunting the opponent as it creates a larger target and the likelihood of a counter will be significantly reduced in power. Watching Mayweather stand square with his hands near his lower ribs walking towards an opponent was a very strange thing to see.

 

[chromatic9]

Was surprised to learn there was about 5000 empty seats at the T mobile arena.

 

[Flo_Evans]

I just don't get the MMA insecurity. Maybe because it is relatively new. I think most boxing fans recognize a pro boxer would have a hard time competing in a MMA match. They are different sports, one really isn't superior to the other. Imho it's just you can really only dedicate your life to one style.

 

[Quixzlizx]

So what? Conor made it into the 10th round, something that basically no one with any sort of knowledge in boxing thought would happen. He landed a couple of shots on Floyd and although they basically did no damage, I doubt Floyd purposely let himself get upper cut.

If you ask me, someone fighting in their first professional boxing match, as much as a circus as it might be, against Floyd Mayweather should be put away in the first 3 rounds. He wasn't. Y'all can say that Floyd let him survive and could have finished him when he wanted to, which is probably true. But he didn't. McGregor did better than I expected. It doesn't mean he did great. It's not that hard to understand.

You're making no sense. If I play poker with a 4 year old and intentionally take it easy so it takes a half hour before he loses his chips so he also has some fun, it would be pretty goofy to start talking up the 4 year old for lasting so long (well, it would make sense to praise a 4 year old to his face, but it'd be either embarrassing or patronizing if it were an adult in the same situation).

 

[shadowstar]

I don't get it...

Floyd said the fight would go this way before the match.
Floyd did exactly as he said he'd do in the match.
Floyd explained the same strategy after the match.

How are these "but Conor went 10 rounds" posts making sense when he was doing exactly what Floyd laid out? Have you people seen any Floyd matches? Floyd hasn't ended a fight in 1 round since the 90s because that's not his strategy. Doesn't matter who it's against, that's not what he does nor is that anything he said he'd do.

It's like people are clenching straws because they were wrong. Just call it like it is. Floyd let him have 10 rounds because he followed the strategy he said he'd follow which is the same strategy he always uses.

I'm an MMA fan and not a boxing fan at all, but I don't see how others don't agree with this. If Connor was at all a threat to Mayweather, he wouldn't have kept moving forward after the uppercut in the first. If this fight was even, Mayweather would've fought his usual game and went to decision. He wanted to finish it early because he knew he could against an amateur boxer and he did just that.

 

[A Pretty Panda]

Facebook feed is blowing up with "conor threw his punches, the fight was fixed" lolol

I saw that video too lol, it's so terrible. At one point they cite the commentators to prove their point when it makes no sense at all "some people think this fight is a farce". Completely out of context from what Mauro actually meant.

 

[BSsBrolly]

I'm an MMA fan and not a boxing fan at all, but I don't see how others don't agree with this. If Connor was at all a threat to Mayweather, he wouldn't have kept moving forward after the uppercut in the first. If this fight was even, Mayweather would've fought his usual game and went to decision. He wanted to finish it early because he knew he could against an amateur boxer and he did just that.

The 10th round isn't early. Floyd said he wanted to finish it earlier but couldn't.

 

[A Pretty Panda]

The 10th round isn't early. Floyd said he wanted to finish it earlier but couldn't.

The man tried to bet money on himself winning in the 9th round. So I guess yeah he was one round late.

 

[BSsBrolly]

The man tried to bet money on himself winning in the 9th round. So I guess yeah he was one round late.

So funny.

 

[Brannon]

If we went above, in the 168+ (which is still below the max weight Conor fighted in, for the UFC) there would be genuine power freaks like Kovalev, Stevenson, Beterbiev, etc. Or very skilled fighters like Ward.

ragingbull.gif

 

[Sentenza]

ragingbull.gif

I don't know how I should answer to this, because I'm not sure what's supposed to mean.

Actually posting the gif could help, honestly.

 

[Brannon]

I don't know how I should answer to this, because I'm not sure what's supposed to mean.

Actually posting the gif could help, honestly.

Couldn't find the gif but here's the next best thing
https://youtu.be/5wwItkoapuA?t=41

A bit theatrical, but the damage would be real.

 

[Syphon Filter]

Yeah, for a guy who is famous for being untouchable, dude has a chin of iron.

You can actually see Floyd's legs give up for a second and then become possessed and straighten back up. This was the only time I've ever seen Floyd really 'hurt' by a punch.

lol at that one guy standing shocked expecting floyd to fall.

 

[SallyIsNow]

Yeah, for a guy who is famous for being untouchable, dude has a chin of iron.

You can actually see Floyd's legs give up for a second and then become possessed and straighten back up. This was the only time I've ever seen Floyd really 'hurt' by a punch.

This is the greatest thing I've ever seen.

 

[Klocker]

Facebook feed is blowing up with "conor threw his punches, the fight was fixed" lolol

Idiots

 

[ryutaro's mama]

lol at that one guy standing shocked expecting floyd to fall.

That one guy is the embodiment of Mayweather's real life haters.

 

[shintoki]

For someone like Mayweather with brittle hands to do that kind of dmg on Conor just imagine someone with two proper hands.

Proper hands and no desire to sell the fight

 

[opticalmace]

Have any pro boxers commented on the fight? Curious about what they thought of the whole thing.

 

[OpinionatedCyborg]

Counter hook from a back sway? What just happened there??

Floyd punishes folks with that move A LOT

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nigO6f2Cauw

 

[ronco2000]

This fight was fixed. We all got played by these two. They got millions and we loss money. Both are laughing all the way to the bank.

 

[Kaleinc]

That was a boring ass 100 million dollar fight.
Also the anthem, that was either a very thick Irish accent or it wasn't in English, what the fock.