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The media circus has kicked off in the prefight hype of Mcgregor vs Mayweather.

It’s been interesting watching the hype, the vast majority of both pro-MMA fighters and boxers come down firmly on the side of Mayweather winnng.

I am inclined to agree, but as always the devil is in the detail, and Mayweather has that covered.

Mcgreggors supporters point to his superior punching power and southpaw stance, but this will hardly be the first time Mayweather has faced these attributes in his 30+ years of boxing. In fact when you look at Mayweather’s sheer speed and polished skill, you have to admire the mans mastery of his art.

Given the Mayweather’s expertise in generating hype around the fight, I don’t believe for one minute he feels slow, rusty and that he is not the same fighter as just 2 years ago. More likely he’s building expectation for the fight in the hope of attracting more pay per views from those wanting to see him knocked out.

One of the main challenges Mcgreggor faces is the level of specialist expertise required to box at this level. Slight changes in distance and angle from a sport with no kicks or takedowns become highly significant at this level. Little things like Mayweather’s exact prescription of gloves and filling even manufacture is all designed to give Mayweather further advantage. May weather is a master of not getting hit and defensive use of his gloves.

‘Boxing as an organisation will never want Mcgregor to win. Defeat of an all time great by an MMA fighter will make boxing look increasingly irrevelent in a modern world’

In short, Mcgreggor is fighting Mayweather’s sport, by Mayweathers rules with Mayweather’s tools. And Mayweather is the best of the world at it… Mcgreggor says it best, “its not a fight, it’s a match with no elbows, knees or takedowns”.

Possibly a bigger problem will be the judges and boxing as a whole.

Boxing as an organisation will never want Mcgregor to win, given the choice. Think about it, one of the best Boxers of all time defeated by an MMA fighter, it’ll be seen as a nail in the coffin of boxing.

Any and every decision will go against Mcgregor, points will go against Mcgregor. Realistically Conor Mcgregor will need to knock Mayweather out to get a decisive victory. Realistically that means a decisive knock out in the first 3 or 4 rounds after which Mayweathers finess and expertise will provee unbeatable.

As a sport, boxing is consistently loosing fans and money to MMA. Yes, there are still the big fights but on the whole, the sport is diminishing. This is compounded by Boxings poor performance in the octagon and increasingly Boxing risks being seen as irrelevent or more simply as part of MMA by a new generation of fight fans.

‘Personally I’d love Mcgreggor to win. I love Mcgreggor, I love MMA  and I love an underdog. But, I’ll go for Mayweather winning’

Our Prediction
Personally I’d love Mcgreggor to win. I love Mcgreggor, I love MMA  and I love an underdog. Mcgreggor is everybit as good as Mayweather in his own arena. Unpredictable, agile and exciting to watch he is a real MMA phenomena. But, I’ll go for Mayweather winning on points. Given both fighters will have opposing stances, eg southpaw vs orthodox stance, Mayweather will rely on constant rights and lead hooks combined with counter punching – Mayweather is a smart fighter so if he can keep Mcgregor striking and out of his usual counter punching

Given both fighters will have opposing stances, eg southpaw vs orthodox stance, Mayweather will rely on constant rights and lead hooks combined with counter punching – Mayweather is a smart fighter so if he can keep Mcgregor striking and out of his usual counter punching rythm Mcgregor will be unsettled from the outset.

Mayweather’s defensive game is sublime so he’ll probably slip and move dancing around the ring relying on points and the judges to win the fight. Mayweather has not knocked (TKO) anyone out since 1999 so I’d guess the chances of a knock out on Mcgregor are slim.

The interesting thing is though, Mcgreggor was brave enough to step into Mayweathers ring, noone is under any doubt of what the consequences would be if Mayweather tried to step into Mcgreggors. Win lose or draw, Mcgreggor will be the winner – financially at least.

As the fight is advertised at $100 on pay per view, I’ll wait for the highlights like everyone else.

Paul Grey. Krav Maga Bristol