Conor McGregor can call out anyone he wants in boxing after impressing in his debut 10th round TKO defeat to Floyd Mayweather on Sunday [Saturday in the US].
Everyone expected the MMA fighter to be overwhelmed when making the transition from cage to ring against boxing’s best, but the Irish brawler more than held his own, winning the first three rounds before gassing out past the sixth.
Lasting 10 rounds when UFC bouts don’t even go beyond five was one thing, but the fact he landed more shots on Mayweather in 10 rounds than Pacquiao did in 12 — 111 to 81 — more than underlines his and MMA’s credibility.
McGregor also got a better shots-thrown versus shots-landed ratio than Pacquiao did against Mayweather, 26 per cent to the Filipino’s 19.
This now not only opens the doors to greater opportunities in boxing for McGregor but also other MMA fighters who might want to make the leap, so we could be set for a good few more Franken-fights yet.
McGregor isn’t going to make anywhere near the same amount of money if he goes back into UFC [unless he fights Mayweather in a cage], but if he holds out for the likes of Pacquiao, the good times could keep rolling in boxing.
With the lowered guard he showed against Mayweather though, McGregor is more than likely to get his head knocked off against a Gennady Golovkin or a Canelo Alvarez, but with the wow factor he draws, all three of the above might still choose to dally in the fanfare.
It may appear to be a circus, but fighting McGregor is ultimately one that pays and grabs more attention than ‘proper’ top-drawer contests between two ‘legit’ boxers at present. The build-up to September 16th’s fight between Canelo and Golovkin being overshadowed by the Mayweather-McGregor bout is a case in point. There’s no superstars left in boxing and the sport is on the ropes.
Mayweather also didn’t do enough in my opinion to state boxing’s case against those decline fears. He should have finished McGregor much earlier on given the circumstances. So, there are still enough questions left unanswered to warrant a few more spin-off fights. What would happen if McGregor’s stamina improved? Can anyone really knock him out properly? ... for example.
To boxing purists this is an abomination and even MMA hard-core fans are only mildly curious, but to the middle ground — which makes up the majority — the prospect of more from McGregor is insatiable. That’s why it has to happen.
If he had been royally beaten by Mayweather, the appeal may have stopped short in its tracks, but after that showing there’s shelf life to his boxing stock.
He can’t afford too many more admirable defeats before it wanes quickly however, and beyond him, MMA doesn’t offer that many more household names capable of drawing the same publicity, so perhaps the window of opportunity is slim, but it’s still very much there.
