Conor McGregor put up a heck of a performance in the early rounds of his fight against Floyd Mayweather, but when it was all said and done, it simply wasn't enough to dethrone "Money" from the top of the boxing world's mountain.
The UFC lightweight champion made his professional boxing debut this past weekend (Sat. August 26, 2017) against, arguably, the best boxer of all time in undefeated legend Floyd Mayweather. The bout took place from the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada in a 12 round three minute bout where each man wore eight ounce gloves. Lighter glove sizes that the original 10 ounces proposed were thought to be an advantage for 'The Notorious One,' whose knockout power in the UFC has been the downfall of nearly all his adversaries, however, that proved not ot be the case.
McGregor pushed the pace and action early on in the first few rounds and landed some decent shots to the head and body within the first nine minutes. He began to fatigue a little after halfway through the fight, and was unable to answer a barrage of strikes from Mayweather in the 10th round, resulting in a TKO stoppage.
Mayweather's veteranship and pure skill was enough to get him by the MMA phenom, but he did have some kind words to say about the Irishman once their fight had concluded. "Money" admitted that McGregor surpassed his expectations skill-wise inside the ring, and also touched on McGregor's gamed knockout power.
During the post-fight press conference, Mayweather admitted that McGregor's power was 'solid,' but it wasn't nothing that he hadn't felt before (quotes via MMA Junkie):
“As far as his punching power – he’s solid,” Mayweather said in a press conference after the pay-per-view main event at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. “I’ve felt it before, so that’s why I kept coming straight ahead.
“Obviously, it wasn’t the type of power to say, ‘I can’t come forward.’ Because if it were that type of power, I wouldn’t have come forward.”
“I let the referee do his job,” Mayweather said. “I’m not here to bash the referee. But you guys knew what was going on – a lot of rabbit punching. A lot. Things happen, but you live and you learn.
"The referee is a hell of a referee. Conor McGregor is a hell of a fighter. I’m not here to bash anyone. I just went out there to do my job tonight.”
What are your thoughts on Mayweather's comments regarding McGregor's punching power inside the boxing ring? Let us know in the comments section below!
Do YOU want to write for GiveMeSport? Get started today by signing-up and submitting an article HERE: http://gms.to/writeforgms