McGregor vs Mayweather

[PatrickEwing]

Say what you will, but i was entertained fully. Both fought and both showed immense class in the end  

[NSXCIGAR]

Glad everyone got their money's worth--very entertaining fight.

Just goes to show how much of an art and science boxing is, and how a non-boxer stands virtually no chance against a seasoned pro. He let McGregor expend all his energy in the first 4 rounds with all defense, picked at him the next 4 and by then McGregor was gassed and couldn't keep his guard up anymore late in the 9th, and Mayweather saw it immediately and attacked. Masterful strategy by Mayweather. He knew getting him tired and pouncing late was the best strategy. If he started slugging it out early McGregor could get lucky with a punch. 

McGregor still had no idea Mayweather set him up through the first 9 rounds. After the fight he said he thought he was doing pretty well until the middle rounds! That's exactly what Mayweather wanted him to think. The better he thinks he's doing, the more he's going to increase the attack and expend energy. Total mind game and the kind that just don't exist in MMA where skill and speed is paramount. People have no idea how grueling 12 3-minute rounds are. Nothing like 3 5-minute MMA rounds. Boxers like Mayweather train and learn exactly how much energy to expend over those rounds and tailor that to their strategy. It takes many years of training to perfect that kind of pacing and metering of energy and is not something that someone who hasn't trained for that for many years can do. 

[vladdraq]

it was way above my expectations and i was surprised by McGregor's skills, he is a hell of a fighter, standing 9 rounds with Mayweather is very very impressive.

 

[shlomo]

9 hours ago, toofargone said:

I called it! Pity I wasn't there to bet on it

You can bet on anything from the comfort of your toilet seat...

[TheFullMontecristo]

Ozzy Man gives a good review of the fight.

https://www.liveleak.com/view?i=94b_1503848022

[Lotusguy]

Thank god it's over and life can continue without seeing this on every website, forum, paper,....

[Lant63]

McGregor landed more punches than quite a few of Floyd's previous opponents. It was a much better fight than I thought it was going to be, and better than many true boxing matches I've watched lately albeit that number isn't very high. Looking forward to seeing him return to the octagon.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[NSXCIGAR]

5 hours ago, Lant63 said:

McGregor landed more punches than quite a few of Floyd's previous opponents. It was a much better fight than I thought it was going to be, and better than many true boxing matches I've watched lately albeit that number isn't very high. Looking forward to seeing him return to the octagon.

Indeed, he appears to have fared better than Pacquiao did according to MMA's Mike Chiappetta:

Conor McGregor (111-430, 26%) in 10 rounds landed more punches & at a better percentage than Manny Pacquiao (81-429, 19%) did in 12

Although, that may have been part of Mayweather's strategy in letting McGregor think he was doing well by letting him partially connect with a lot of punches early causing him to get excited and expend more energy. It appears that if McGregor had not been gassed he would have lost by decision handily but I'm sure Mayweather didn't want the fight to go longer than it had to as McGregor could get lucky late if both were tired and Mayweather had made a slight mistake. The longer it went, McGregor's chances for a KO improved as long as he stayed fresh, which he obviously didn't, but again, that may have been due to Mayweather's early strategy of fooling him into expending more energy than he would have if McGregor had been on the defensive earlier. Keep him on offense and make him think he's doing better than he is to get him to keep expending that energy and he'll be totally gassed by round 9 and and easy KO. 

[wabashcr]

Typical Mayweather fight.  Let the opponent be the busier fighter in the early rounds without getting hurt, and pick him apart as the fight wears on.  Conor didn't embarrass himself, which was pretty much the best he could have hoped for.  You could tell he has some boxing pedigree, and an athlete of his caliber, with access to high level trainers and sparring, he definitely gave a good account of himself.  But he was never going to hurt Mayweather, let alone beat him.  The few clean shots he landed didn't appear to do any damage at all.  Floyd knew what he was doing.

I hope Conor goes back to UFC where he belongs.  I hope the fact that this fight went into the 10th round doesn't lead to him getting into a boxing ring with someone who could really hurt him.  I've seen a lot of talk about him getting the winner of the Canelo/Golovkin fight.  I pray he has people around him smart enough to keep him from doing that.  It's one thing to get in with a much smaller 40 year old who hasn't been a knockout puncher for more than a decade.  GGG and Canelo could both ruin him for good.  Surely Dana White won't let that happen.

Glad everyone who paid for it felt like they got their money's worth.  

[HeadInTheClouds]

Great fight, both fighters showed cased their strengths very well. 

[Corylax18]

10 hours ago, NSXCIGAR said:

Indeed, he appears to have fared better than Pacquiao did according to MMA's Mike Chiappetta:

Conor McGregor (111-430, 26%) in 10 rounds landed more punches & at a better percentage than Manny Pacquiao (81-429, 19%) did in 12

Although, that may have been part of Mayweather's strategy in letting McGregor think he was doing well by letting him partially connect with a lot of punches early causing him to get excited and expend more energy. It appears that if McGregor had not been gassed he would have lost by decision handily but I'm sure Mayweather didn't want the fight to go longer than it had to as McGregor could get lucky late if both were tired and Mayweather had made a slight mistake. The longer it went, McGregor's chances for a KO improved as long as he stayed fresh, which he obviously didn't, but again, that may have been due to Mayweather's early strategy of fooling him into expending more energy than he would have if McGregor had been on the defensive earlier. Keep him on offense and make him think he's doing better than he is to get him to keep expending that energy and he'll be totally gassed by round 9 and and easy KO. 

Don't forget, Pac Man fought with one arm. He had a torn Labrum in his right shoulder. That fight was hugely disappointing, and Mayweather alluded to it in his post fight comments Saturday. 11 landed punches per round is dismal output for a top level boxer. Especially when you considered that Floyd let him swing free for 3 rounds. 

6 hours ago, wabashcr said:

Typical Mayweather fight.  Let the opponent be the busier fighter in the early rounds without getting hurt, and pick him apart as the fight wears on.  Conor didn't embarrass himself, which was pretty much the best he could have hoped for.  You could tell he has some boxing pedigree, and an athlete of his caliber, with access to high level trainers and sparring, he definitely gave a good account of himself.  But he was never going to hurt Mayweather, let alone beat him.  The few clean shots he landed didn't appear to do any damage at all.  Floyd knew what he was doing.

I hope Conor goes back to UFC where he belongs.  I hope the fact that this fight went into the 10th round doesn't lead to him getting into a boxing ring with someone who could really hurt him.  I've seen a lot of talk about him getting the winner of the Canelo/Golovkin fight.  I pray he has people around him smart enough to keep him from doing that.  It's one thing to get in with a much smaller 40 year old who hasn't been a knockout puncher for more than a decade.  GGG and Canelo could both ruin him for good.  Surely Dana White won't let that happen.

Glad everyone who paid for it felt like they got their money's worth.  

It was funny to me that MacGregor thought he was winning this fight at any point. He landed 2 truly significant punches and neither seemed to affect Floyd at all. I was surprised and impressed by the efficacy of MacGregor's Jab though, it was by far his best punch. He has to be deeply disappointed for essentially beating himself. After all that talk about how prepared he was to go twelve rounds, to gas that badly is a Huge letdown. 40 year old Floyd was barely breathing hard in rounds 8, 9, and 10 as he started picking apart an exhausted 29 year old Connor. Connor's technical ability was at or near the level needed to compete with Floyd. His conditioning was not, he lost the fight in the gym. I wonder how much a 17 pound weight cut affected his conditioning. Floyd probably weighed very close to 149 1/2 on fight night. There was word that Connor weighed as much as 173 on Wednesday and he told Showtime that he weighed 170 in the dressing room before the fight. Sandwich in his 153 pound weight in and you are talking serious dehydration. I know fighters do it all the time, but Floyd turned that 20 pounds of extra oxygen burning mass into his advantage. 

I would love to see GGG or Canelo step in with MacGregor, but as you said, I dont think the MacGregor side is dumb enough to let that happen. 

[wabashcr]

19 minutes ago, Corylax18 said:

It was funny to me that MacGregor thought he was winning this fight at any point. He landed 2 truly significant punches and neither seemed to affect Floyd at all. I was surprised and impressed by the efficacy of MacGregor's Jab though, it was by far his best punch. He has to be deeply disappointed for essentially beating himself. After all that talk about how prepared he was to go twelve rounds, to gas that badly is a Huge letdown. 40 year old Floyd was barely breathing hard in rounds 8, 9, and 10 as he started picking apart an exhausted 29 year Connor. Connor's technical ability was at or near the level needed to compete with Floyd. His conditioning was not, he lost the fight in the gym. I wonder how much a 17 pound weight cut affected his conditioning. Floyd probably weighed very close to 149 1/2 on fight night. There was word that Connor weighed as much as 173 on Wednesday and he told Showtime that he weighed 170 in the dressing room before the fight. Sandwich in his 153 pound weight in and you are talking serious dehydration. I know fighters do it all the time, but Floyd turned that 20 pounds of extra oxygen burning mass into his advantage. 

I would love to see GGG or Canelo step in with MacGregor, but as you said, I dont think the MacGregor side is dumb enough to let that happen. 

You can give Conor the first 3 rounds when Floyd wasn't doing anything.  I didn't think he won any rounds after that.  I watched on a periscope feed on my phone, so it's possible I missed a few shots here and there.

Part of the problem Conor had is that the footwork and leverage needed to throw a good punch in boxing is much different than in MMA, where kicks, takedowns, etc., are in play.  It wasn't reasonable to expect him to be able to pick that up effectively enough to hurt someone like Mayweather in such a short period of time.  

As for fitness, most of Floyd's opponents suffer a similar fate, although perhaps not to such an extreme degree.  Mayweather is so hard to hit, and every time you throw a punch, he tags you with a counter.  Never anything too powerful, but over time, it adds up.  And it's exhausting.  He's so efficient, and in such good shape.  His style makes it virtually impossible for an opponent to keep up with him for 12 rounds.  No shame in that regard for Conor.  He can work on stamina and endurance all he wants, and it's not going to change the outcome.  He'll still end up in a situation where he's exhausted, and a comparatively fresh Mayweather will continue to pick him apart.

The weight was definitely a factor.  Knowing they were so close in weight the day before at the weigh-in, and you could tell Conor was easily 20 lbs heavier than Floyd in the ring, that was a huge advantage for Floyd.  I don't care how often you go through weight cutting.  It's always going to be an advantage if one guy doesn't have to do it.  Floyd probably walks around at 154 even when he's not training for a fight.  There's always a debate in boxing about bringing back day-of-fight weigh-ins.  But the thinking is that guys will still cut, and they'll just have less time to rehydrate, which makes them more vulnerable in the ring.  The safest method would probably be a tiered weigh-in schedule extending a week or two before the fight.  But that's not practical for a variety of reasons.  

[Corylax18]

1 hour ago, wabashcr said:

You can give Conor the first 3 rounds when Floyd wasn't doing anything.  I didn't think he won any rounds after that.  I watched on a periscope feed on my phone, so it's possible I missed a few shots here and there.

Part of the problem Conor had is that the footwork and leverage needed to throw a good punch in boxing is much different than in MMA, where kicks, takedowns, etc., are in play.  It wasn't reasonable to expect him to be able to pick that up effectively enough to hurt someone like Mayweather in such a short period of time.  

As for fitness, most of Floyd's opponents suffer a similar fate, although perhaps not to such an extreme degree.  Mayweather is so hard to hit, and every time you throw a punch, he tags you with a counter.  Never anything too powerful, but over time, it adds up.  And it's exhausting.  He's so efficient, and in such good shape.  His style makes it virtually impossible for an opponent to keep up with him for 12 rounds.  No shame in that regard for Conor.  He can work on stamina and endurance all he wants, and it's not going to change the outcome.  He'll still end up in a situation where he's exhausted, and a comparatively fresh Mayweather will continue to pick him apart.

The weight was definitely a factor.  Knowing they were so close in weight the day before at the weigh-in, and you could tell Conor was easily 20 lbs heavier than Floyd in the ring, that was a huge advantage for Floyd.  I don't care how often you go through weight cutting.  It's always going to be an advantage if one guy doesn't have to do it.  Floyd probably walks around at 154 even when he's not training for a fight.  There's always a debate in boxing about bringing back day-of-fight weigh-ins.  But the thinking is that guys will still cut, and they'll just have less time to rehydrate, which makes them more vulnerable in the ring.  The safest method would probably be a tiered weigh-in schedule extending a week or two before the fight.  But that's not practical for a variety of reasons.  

I agree regarding at least 2 of the first 3 rounds, but the judges did not. No judge had him winning a round past the third. Connor only won the first round on the scorecards and two judges scored the 9th a 10-8 round for Mayweather. Floyd was on his way to a unanimous, landslide victory regardless of the ending. The summary scorecard doesn't show it, but I would not be surprised if judges took points for one of the Dozen+ hammerfists or blows to the back of the head commited by Mcgregor. They don't need the refs permission to do so. Connor only landed 9/8/9 punches in rounds 1/2/3 and of those only 1 was significant. Floyd landed about half as many in the same time period(2/5/5), but at more than double the accuracy. Connor stayed busier early, but the numbers show that Floyd was the more efficient, tactical boxer from bell to bell. The link below shows the official scorecard and punch stat numbers, the second link is to a replay on YouTube. The more I watch the fight (3 times now) and digest the punch stats the more I see how far superior Floyd was. Wathcing the fight live, I really thought Connor was competitive/superior early. After further analysis, that really wasn't the case. 

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2729772-mayweather-vs-mcgregor-scorecard-results-complete-punch-stats-and-breakdown

 

[wabashcr]

1 hour ago, Corylax18 said:

I agree regarding at least 2 of the first 3 rounds, but the judges did not. No judge had him winning a round past the third. Connor only won the first round on the scorecards and two judges scored the 9th a 10-8 round for Mayweather. Floyd was on his way to a unanimous, landslide victory regardless of the ending. The summary scorecard doesn't show it, but I would not be surprised if judges took points for one of the Dozen+ hammerfists or blows to the back of the head commited by Mcgregor. They don't need the refs permission to do so. Connor only landed 9/8/9 punches in rounds 1/2/3 and of those only 1 was significant. Floyd landed about half as many in the same time period(2/5/5), but at more than double the accuracy. Connor stayed busier early, but the numbers show that Floyd was the more efficient, tactical boxer from bell to bell. The link below shows the official scorecard and punch stat numbers, the second link is to a replay on YouTube. The more I watch the fight (3 times now) and digest the punch stats the more I see how far superior Floyd was. Wathcing the fight live, I really thought Connor was competitive/superior early. After further analysis, that really wasn't the case. 

There's a difference between saying Conor won the first few rounds and saying he was competitive or superior to Floyd.  Floyd did nothing in the first three rounds.  You don't win rounds by playing matador and not throwing.  Conor won those rounds by virtue of being the only one throwing.  Obviously those rounds were never going to hurt Mayweather.  He gave them away, like he often does.  But you still have to score them for McGregor.

I didn't score the 9th 10-8.  Floyd dominated, and he hurt Conor, but I usually look for more sustained flurries and bigger shots to give a 10-8.  That said, it's probably as close to a 10-8 without a knockdown as you'll ever see from Floyd.  His style isn't conducive to those kinds of rounds, but he did stalk Conor and hit him pretty much at will.  His dominance just looks different than what you ordinarily think of as a 10-8 kind of round.  Just my opinion.  I've seen hundreds of worse scores in boxing than that.  

[Hayden]

Props to Connor for sticking to the rules of boxing when in a real fight he would be able to take Floyd out in ~30 seconds. 

[frenchkiwi]

On 28/08/2017 at 2:22 PM, Lant63 said:

McGregor landed more punches than quite a few of Floyd's previous opponents. It was a much better fight than I thought it was going to be, and better than many true boxing matches I've watched lately albeit that number isn't very high.

Same for me. Happily surprised. An entertaining fight not just a cash cow.

In spite of the fact that it turned out pretty much as expected (McGregor not coping with 12 rounds and Mayweather outfoxing him).

It was the manner of it all that entertained me. In the early rounds, even though Mayweather was biding his time, McGregor's totally unconventional style and strange but incisive jab caused him plenty of problems. Mayweather got caught with a few relatively heavy punches for one (which is part of nobody's fight plan), and wasn't allowed to run or turn his back with impunity (a favourite Floyd trick), or counterpunch as successfully as usual.

I've seen Mayweather stand and fight every now and again, but actually come forward relentlessly with a pressure-fighter game? That was one for the books. It definitely must've helped that he viewed it as his last fight (i can almost believe it this time) and last chance to rescue his legacy with a more entertaining fight style. As Mayweather said, it was a necessary tactic, and as McGregor said "Oi turned you into a Mexican!!". Watching Mayweather probe and adjust his style 2-3 times before finding the winning formula was also gold - a master at work.

Fair play to them both!