Hold on to your seats folks, things are going to escalate very quickly. The blockbuster Floyd Mayweather vs Conor McGregor super bout is ready to kick off. And the first press conference is booked for London!
The most anticipated boxing match since Mayweather-Pacquiao has finally arrived. Promoted by Mayweather Promotions, the bout is set to kick off a massive world tour. The first stop? London’s famous Wembley Stadium.
Mayweather and McGregor are set to meet for the first time in two weeks
The two global sports icons, one a boxing legend and all-time great, the other, UFC’s most famous star, will finally get to meet face to face in about two weeks’ time. A projected 10,000 people are to attend.
Since the bout was announced a few weeks ago, there has been a media hailstorm of coverage. People from all corners of the world have expressed their opinion. Will it be competitive? Will it be a mismatch like everyone expects it to be? Those are merely a couple of questions that surround this mega bout.
The two superstars are set to visit other world tour stops after London, so this is only just the beginning. The bout, which is scheduled for August 26th in Las Vegas, is poised to be one of the richest fights in boxing history. There are talks that because of both MMA and boxing’s shared fan base, that this fight might even eclipse Mayweather-Pacquiao numbers.
The first stop in the world tour is at London’s Wembley Stadium
Mayweather is coming off a long two year absence, with his last bout against Andre Berto being in 2015. He announced his retirement shortly after and hasn’t fought since. McGregor on the other hand used that two-year frame to catapult his fame in the combat sports world. He’s won the UFC featherweight and lightweight titles and became the UFC’s most marketable star.
Would McGregor be able to give Mayweather a good fight though? One trainer seems to think so. Firas Zahabi, who has worked with fighters like Georges St-Pierre and Rory McDonald, gave his take on the Irishman’s chances.
“I would take it a different approach. I would rough Mayweather up. Rough him up, physically,” Zahabi said. “Grab him, throw him, drop him on the floor, do borderline illegal stuff. Get him thinking ‘what is this? I don’t know how to grapple with this guy, I don’t know what an overhook is, I don’t know what an underhook is, I don’t know what this type of clinching is.’”
“And he’s gonna get tired. Mayweather would get tired from clinching. If you haven’t done a lot of clinching in your life, it’s extremely exhausting.”
Firas Zahabi says McGregor should look to make things rough
“After a certain period of clinching, you build up that lactic acid, your muscles have less pop, they’re less explosive. And all of a sudden, you’re trying to punch, but it doesn’t feel right. Do a hundred push-ups then go hit the heavy bag, you’re gonna see that your muscles aren’t feeling right.”
“If McGregor was my student and I was coaching him, I would tell him every time, ‘you can can rough him up. Grab the back of his neck. Trip him. Shove him into the ropes. Shove him through the ropes, whatever. Rough this guy up, make him forget about boxing. And of course, look to land the left.”
With how Australian Jeff Horn performed against Manny Pacquiao last weekend, Zahabi’s advice may be right. Just rough Mayweather up and turn this thing into a bonafide fight. You can’t outbox Mayweather anyway, so don’t even try.
