Floyd Mayweather (left) and Conor McGregor (right) faced off for the last time before their fight on Saturday.Ethan Miller / Getty Images
- Prominent boxers predict Floyd Mayweather will give Conor McGregor a brutal beating on Saturday evening
- Showtime commentator and former UFC heavyweight Brendan Schaub believes McGregor has a number of advantages that we will see on fight night
- Age, stamina, strength, power, movement, and unpredictability could all play a part in how this Las Vegas fight pans out
- Schaub says Mayweather is a Terminator but McGregor also has assets that scare people
Eleven-time world boxing champion Floyd Mayweather is expected to give Conor McGregor a resounding beating on Saturday evening.
Former two-weight world champion Ricky Hatton, former heavyweight king Mike Tyson, and former pound-for-pound number one fighter Manny Pacquiao all anticipate an easy Mayweather victory at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
But Showtime commentator and former UFC heavyweight Brendan Schaub thinks slightly differently.
Business Insider sat down with Schaub before he performed stand-up comedy in London earlier this month. Though he understands the arguments in favour of Floyd Mayweather, such as boxing experience, his defensive capability, inside fighting skill, and his world champion focus and adaptability, Schaub still believes there are many tangibles that favour McGregor.
“Listen in this fight, Conor McGregor has trick A, B, and C. Once Conor shows A, B, or C, it better f—–g work, because once he shows it, Floyd is like the Terminator. He’ll download that data, understand it, adapt, and move on.
“Conor has a weird movement, he has long distance, and style. Trick A will be this angle, B from this, C and so on. There is no D, E, F, or G. But Floyd just downloads data all the time and you can’t show all your tricks straight away, because what then?
“In the first round, if A, B, or C does land… Conor hits hard enough that Floyd will be in trouble. If Conor lands a hard left hand and Floyd staggers and has to cover up but then cruises to a decision win, Conor wins the spectacle even if he loses the fight. On Sky Sports and ESPN all you’ll see after the event is a constant loop of that clip. He still wins.”
Mayweather is a Terminator.Paramount Pictures
“Mayweather may be a Terminator in there but what makes Conor so special is that he’s this freaking Irish unicorn. Before the Jose Aldo fight, Conor called what he was going to do and then went out and did it. Conor is special as he has a high fighting IQ.
“Mayweather may be a master at inside fighting and I get that, but what can give Conor an advantage, more so than guys Floyd beat up on the inside, is that in mixed martial arts, inside fighting is our game, man. We get underhooks, manipulating body movement… it will be hard for Floyd to just get off. We don’t have the same sort of movements as a boxer and that will help Conor nullify Floyd’s inside techniques a little bit.”
So what are McGregor’s main advantages heading into fight night?
He will give one to take one
“Both guys have A+ level punch resistance. Conor got hit square in the jaw by a big 185-pound man in Nate Diaz, who couldn’t knock him out. But with Conor’s power, he dropped Nate how many times? Conor is the bigger fighter. If they were to land flush, Conor would take one to give one. But Floyd would not take one to give one.”
He has strength, weight, height, and reach advantages
Conor McGregor.Reuters
“When we talk about physicality and great dynamics… who is taller, faster, stronger, and who is more athletic, it’s Conor McGregor. All day it’s Conor McGregor. And that is why this fight is so interesting to me. You have a guy in his absolute prime fighting a guy who is 40 and two years off from his last fight.”
McGregor is in his prime
“McGregor is in his prime and that is another reason why the fight is interesting. I don’t want to see any other mixed martial artist against any other boxer. It would be a s–t show. Anderson Silva versus Roy Jones Jr? A s–t show. Stipe Miocic versus Antony Joshua, no. Stipe wouldn’t last two minutes against Joshua as he doesn’t have that unpredictable and unconventional style that would get him to survive.”
Unpredictability could see McGregor survive
“Conor’s movement is what makes him so special. McGregor’s movement is so precise and calculated and always makes sense at that particular point in time in the fight.
“And think about this, we know exactly how Floyd is going to fight. He’s not going to switch his stances, he’s not going to be aggressive, but he’s going to counter. You know how he’s going to fight. But with Conor, his unpredictability and his x-factor are the only reasons I give him a shout.”
Conor McGregor.Reuters
“If Conor came in there in that first round and boxed, all my analyst work could go out the window. You might hear radio silence. If Conor tries to box Floyd, we’re screwed man. But if he comes out with his unpredictability, his movement, his stance… those are the only reasons I believe him.”
Stamina and power moves
“If Floyd or anybody thinks Conor is going to gas-out in his biggest fight and in the biggest fight in combat sports history, you don’t know Conor, you don’t know UFC, and you just do not know sports. Guys really don’t do that, especially at a high level. There’s no way Conor gasses out.”
“The only reason this fight is so important is because if Conor lands, there will be trouble. Conor’s a southpaw. He has a huge left hand. But what could give people a scare, out of southpaw, is a straight left to the body followed by an uppercut. That might be the move.”
His team give him something Mayweather doesn’t get
“In Floyd’s team, everybody is on the payroll. Floyd has this whole entourage, security, this guy, that guy, just random people he pays to have around. I felt bad for Floyd. There’s also a whole drama between him and his dad. Conor doesn’t have that. He doesn’t have drama. There’s such a positive and special atmosphere that is fostered from his long relationship with Coach Kavanagh. When it comes to chemistry, support, love, and the x-factor, Conor’s team has that.”
What else?
“Floyd and Conor are literally the best two dancing partners you could find in combat sports. With Floyd against Manny Pacquiao, everyone watched, but when you hear interviews with Pacquiao, come on… there’s just nothing there. Manny is not selling anything and he just wants to talk about Jesus, the Philippines, and helping people out. That’s great and all but that doesn’t come through as entertaining.
“But Mayweather and McGregor? They were born for each other.”
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