
Some boxing pundits even predicted Conor McGregor would not land a single shot against Floyd Mayweather…
When Conor McGregor was booked to fight Floyd Mayweather in a boxing ring, surprising amounts of fans were picking the Irishman to win. That’s not to say everyone isn’t entitled to their opinion, but in the face of facts, there were many large bets placed.
Those who lost their money on McGregor were likely taken for a ride by the slick-talking star’s predictions. The reality, as it always does, hit with a bang. Taking a barrage of punishment in round 10, McGregor didn’t lose to the stronger or bigger or faster man, but to the smarter man.
Experience has no replacement in the boxing ring, especially when one guy has 49 wins and the other has zero. Where things got interesting in terms of stats was the sheer volume of punches McGregor landed throughout the fight.

Mayweather Comments on McGregor’s Punch Stats
Winning the early rounds, McGregor did far better than many expected. Bettering the punch totals of Manny Pacquiao and Miguel Cotto, among others, the Irishman had at least made a point.
Speaking with Fight Hype, as transcribed by MMAFighting.com, ‘Money’ says the amount of punches he absorbed was part of the plan:
“That’s because I wasn’t counter-punching and boxing,” said Mayweather when asked about McGregor outlanding Pacquiao, Cotto, and Mosley.
“The reason why he probably landed a higher percentage or landed more shots than those guys was because I was coming straight ahead, I was barely moving, knocking his shots down a little bit and just breaking him down.”
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“That was the game plan, let him shoot everything. I know he was gonna shoot shots from awkward positions, but the game plan was to dig into the body with good shots, hit him with left hooks, hit him with straight right hands and keep walking towards him, keep pressing him and pushing him back.
“I could have just stayed on the outside, out-boxed him and counter-punched him, and probably still stop him down the stretch but that’s not what I wanted to do. I wanted to press and push him.”

“My thing is this, it’s not how you start, it’s how you finish. He can come out fast hands, use his range, using different angles, and after the first four or five rounds, he wasn’t the same fighter anymore.
“I told you guys I was going to go straight ahead and I know going straight ahead I was gonna take some contact, I was gonna get hit with some shots, but I wanted to give the fans, and everybody around the world an exciting fight and I feel that’s what we did.”