As the boxing calendar moves closer to the August 26 cross-sport super-fight between Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Conor McGregor, more and more fight fans are checking in on how their respective training camps are moving along. Videos have gradually surfaced to show Mayweather shaking the cobwebs from a two-year layoff, while McGregor has seemed to sharpen some of his moves in the ring and is showing the kind of aggression that has many believing he's got a puncher's chance. However, a new compilation video, which was apparently stitched together to mock the assertion that Mayweather is 'a runner,' frames Floyd's footwork in comparison with that of McGregor's movement when under pressure, and thereby illustrates a vast disparity between their defensive skill sets.
Floyd Mayweather Jr. is considered by most to be one of the greatest defensive fighters of all time. Still, there have always been the detractors, who claim that he runs from combat and doesn't go toe to toe with his opponents. As much as they may hate to accept it, that assertion couldn't be further from the truth. Floyd Mayweather Jr., even against bigger men, has always been a ring general. Every now and then he will be forced back to the ropes, but will tire the other man out by slipping a multitude of punches, and then repivot at the center of the ring. There is a big difference between dodging a punch, and all together dodging the action, which is what the humoring video shows McGregor doing to catch a breather when the heat is on.
The irony of the compilation that's gone viral, however, is that it presents a scenario that fans are highly unlikely to see in Las Vegas one month from now. While the minute-long video is quite entertaining, it shows how both men do when matched up against aggressors. Although they have their culminating moments, the level of activity in a Mayweather fight has long been criticized. He has been called an acute and brilliant technician, a strategist, but nonetheless a boring fighter. That's because Floyd is a counter puncher. He sits back on his defense and jabs from his closed shoulder roll stance, albeit waiting for the other man to press him so he could move, then answer with his best shots. The problem in the upcoming fight is going to be two-fold. Nobody is ever going to beat Mayweather at his own game; thus if Conor is going to simply sit back and counter like he himself does when he is in a punchers stance, he'd be hard pressed to find anyone who'd bet on him to win on points. Thus, like most of the 49 who've fought Floyd, he will have to come forward; which opponents are not generally shy about doing, seeing how Mayweather hasn't scored a knockout in since 2011.
During an interview boxing commentator Jim Lampley did with FightHub last month, he explained what McGregor will be bringing into the ring, by breaking down his Compubox numbers based on his record in the UFC. "Conor McGregor in those fights tracked by CompuBox threw about 42 strikes per round. That means not only is he a counter puncher but that he’s a relatively slow-paced counter puncher. The only two fighters who ever gave Floyd Mayweather any difficulty over long stretches of time were Jose Luis Castillo and Marcos Maidana - two pure brawlers with great physical strength who pushed Floyd into the ropes and threw 75 or 80 punches a round trying to land something. That does not describe Conor McGregor," said Lampley.
Mayweather's total output in his last fight against Andre Berto reveals that he was able to out punch Berto 232-83, with a 57% to 17% connect percentage. Some pose that it will be a different story because McGregor is a southpaw. But so was Manny Pacquiao, who landed even less than Berto, with 81 total punches landed in their match for a 19% connect rate. And the notion that McGregor would be better at beating Floyd to the punch than the lightning quick Pacquiao was, is completely laughable, even when considering their difference in age. However, time, like Floyd, is undefeated. And at 42, he himself has admitted that he won't have the same step he had two years ago. So it remains one to watch.
Source: youtube.com
