Search icon

Sport

29th May 2016

Here’s how long it’d take Conor McGregor to box as well as Floyd Mayweather according to one expert

This superfight may take a while folks...

Carl Anka

It’s story time with Conor McGregor again.

Fight fans have been clamouring for a super fight between Conor McGregor and Floyd Mayweather ever since it was teased early this spring.

Both men have made the fluttering eyes at each other to help make the fight happen. Pay packets have been rumoured and experts from the world over have weighed in with their thoughts (and conspiracy theories) on what it would take to make Conor vs. Floyd a reality. This week saw Nate Diaz chime in with his opinion on what is going on.

The JOE.co.uk team even had a go trying to figure out if the supposed billion dollar bout would ever come off.

There’s just one pesky problem with all this McGregor vs. Mayweather business.

Despite all his fighting talents, McGregor is not a professional boxer, and Pretty Boy Floyd Mayweather is one of the greatest tactical boxers of all time.

floyd mayweather

This little stumbling block got brought up again by respected ESPN boxing training and analyst Teddy Atlas who reckoned it would take five years for Conor McGregor to get on the same boxing level as Floyd Mayweather.

Writing about how he would train Conor in his latest column, Atlas wrote,

“First off, I wouldn’t. He has no chance in a traditional boxing match. His only chance would be with MMA rules … he would need about five years – and I’m being very generous and conservative – of boxing training and experience to even entertain the thought of being competitive with any A-plus-level boxer.”

Atlas also added that McGregor’s greatest hope would be landing “a sneak punch” and that trying to get betting odds on a fight would be ridiculous. “If I were a Vegas oddsmaker, I would not list a betting line on this.”

Harsh words, but you also have to remember that it would probably take Mayweather much longer to learn the skills to be a UFC fighter.

That said, we know that Conor has been working on his sparring a lot as of late and comments like Atlas’ are just the thing to give McGregor the added drive to pull it off and shove it to the haters.

Who knows, maybe this fight could one day be a reality. Maybe. Possibly. Maybe.

 

Do you think McGregor vs. Mayweather could ever happen? Let us know at hello@JOE.co.uk, or drop us a message on Facebook.