https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3PCRShqZKu0&feature=youtu.be
Floyd Mayweather is in full promotion mode now, sitting down with ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith and basically laying out why people shouldn’t be looking past Conor McGregor. After all, McGregor is taller, has more length, is younger in his prime, and Mayweather is coming off a two-year retirement. As Mayweather says: “If you look at everything on paper, it leans towards Conor McGregor.”
Smith does his job by putting that comment through the ringer, thankfully. We all know Mayweather is correct in his statement, but that’s ignoring the fact that he’s still one of the best ever, and McGregor is coming into a boxing ring, it’s not like he’s James Toney stepping into the Octagon to side-check kick Randy Couture. There is context here.
But Mayweather is either playing down his chances to a ridiculous degree, something he’s hinted at since before the fight was even made, or he genuinely knows he’s slowed down and believes McGregor is dangerous. at this point, it’s hard to say. Mayweather has beaten the “I’m old” drum so often lately that you have to admit that, yes, he is old. Seeing a 40-year-old Mayweather move like his younger self isn’t expected by anyone, but as Mayweather also said, he’s still got enough to beat McGregor.
Of course, the winner of Canelo and GGG is out of the question, unfortunately. At least Mayweather is promising a toe-to-toe battle with McGregor due to his slowed-down skill set. “This can’t be a defensive fight. I owe the public. They weren’t pleased with the Pacquiao fight. They’re going to be pleased with this fight right here.”
We’ll see about that.
