By Tim Parsons-
Conor MGregor will make history if he beats Floyd Mayweather on Saturday. it will be boxing’s biggest upset ever.
It seems so improbable, but this sport can be very unpredictable. Mayweather has spent his entire career being an arrogant and somewhat invincible boxer, defeating every opponent he ever met in a 48 fight career.
The American is rarely the most exciting fighter to watch, but has exposed even the toughest of opponents he has faced, throughout his testing and decorated career. Mayweather has sometimes been strategic about the timing of his fights with certain opponents, most notably Pacquao, whom he fought about 5 years too late. Their fight in which Mayweather won a landslide decision in 2014 was uninspiring in every sense. Mayweather hardly did anything, except to just about neutralise the limited offensive action his opponent was able to deliver. There can be no denying that Money Mayweather seems to be some freak of nature.
Against MGgregor, the American has a completely inexperienced man when it comes to pure boxing. The tough MMA king has never had a professional boxing fight in his life, but he has a lot of toughness and fighting stamina. The chances of him beating Mayweather after all these years is slim, but not as slim as many think. MGgregor is an individual of his own, with an immense level of determination and ruggedness. The Irish man’s long acquaintance with mixed marshal arts at the very least guarantees solid legs and firm rooting of those legs when delivering his blows. It will be seen as the biggest upset ever if MgGregor pulls this off, and the fact he is 11 years the younger man will give him plenty of motivation. At 29 years of age, MGregor is still in his prime, whereas Mayweather is practically at the end of his career. In fact, the reigning American world champion already retired, but took this fight according to him ”because the fans demanded it”.
Always business minded, Mayweather has exploited the cross over appeal that naturally occurs when you combine boxing fans with fans from MMA. It makes business sense, and is very intriguing.