Floyd Mayweather, Conor McGregor Agree on August 26 Boxing Match
It is official. The date has been set for the highly awaited match between boxer Floyd Mayweather Jr. and mixed martial artist Conor McGregor.
Boxing's five-division World Champion made the announcement on social media last Wednesday. He will come out of retirement to face UFC's reigning Lightweight Champion in a boxing match at the T-Mobile Arena this Aug. 26.
Meanwhile, the UFC champ took to Twitter to say "the fight is on." However, the photo he uploaded was of Mayweather senior not of his upcoming opponent.
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According to UFC President Dana White, negotiations have been going on for a while, but overall, it went smoothly.
When the announcement was made, the sports world had varying opinions about the fight. Since it is a boxing match, some believe that Mayweather has the upper hand. Super-Middleweight World Champion Carl Froch is one of those. He told talkSPORT that McGregor has no chance against Mayweather because according to him, the former's boxing skills are not as good as his MMA skills.
To note, although McGregor is one of the best MMA fighters in the world, the fight against Mayweather will be his debut in professional boxing.
McGregor's sparring partner, UFC featherweight Artem Lobov has a different opinion.
"Just look at all the stats — Floyd hasn't faced anyone significant for a few years now," Lobov told Reuters. "When he fought Manny Pacquaio it was five years after Manny's prime, he was on the way out basically."
Aside from implying that the 42-year-old Mayweather has grown a bit rusty, Lobov believes that as an MMA artist, McGregor will have the upper hand when it comes to the clinch. He asserts that no one knows the clinch better than an MMA fighter.
Not only that, Lobov, who has witnessed McGregor's strength first hand, suggests that the undefeated boxing champion will fall within the first six rounds of the match.
More updates should follow.
