Official Conor McGregor thread (part 4) *Updated Warning in 1st Post Re:Boxing match

Cantona's Collars

I just lurk in this forum but if anyone has access to Fox Sports 1 ( mobdro;) ) they are discussing the fight on Undisputed.Dana White will be on shortly.

Sofiztikated

60 hours to wait.

callaway92

Sofiztikated wrote: »

60 hours to wait.

61 hours till it's finally over

walshb

Conor's best hope would be to go in "all over the shop." Disjointed, awkward, sloppy, neat and mixing up his energy and attacks. That's the plan to try and be successful

The plan for protection and safety would be to be very cautious, awkward, defensive and negative

He tries to actually think, and he immediately starts getting beaten.

everlast75

From the Journal.ie - -Kavanagh

http://www.the42.ie/john-kavanagh-column-august-2017-3560539-Aug2017/


"WHILE I WAS in a car heading towards Las Vegas earlier this week, a billboard for Saturday night’s fight caught my attention.

Floyd Mayweather v Conor McGregor, 26 August, T-Mobile Arena

Even now that fight week is finally here, that still manages to stop me in my tracks and I just have to laugh to myself. I stopped doubting Conor a long time ago, but a professional boxing debut against the most successful boxer of his generation? This is the biggest, most unusual contest in the history of combat sports and somehow we’re at the centre of it.

How we got here defies logic. According to the majority of observers, so too does the possibility of Conor emerging victorious. I’ve got no problem with that. A guy with a 49-0 record shouldn’t feel threatened by an opponent who has never boxed professionally before.

But the problem with that logic is that it’s being employed by people who haven’t seen what I’ve seen from Conor McGregor — in the last 10 weeks, but also in the 10 years before that.

I recently had another look at Conor’s rematch with Nate Diaz, which took place exactly a year ago last weekend. Apparently that fight was used by the commission as an example of why Conor is worthy of a boxing licence.
If I compare the technique in his hands in that fight to what it’s like now, that Conor would struggle to last six rounds with this Conor. He hasn’t had to train wrestling, jiu-jitsu, kickboxing and all of the other aspects of mixed martial arts for this fight. He’s been able to focus on the area of combat sports which he excels most at anyway — striking with the fists — and he has subsequently improved leaps and bounds.

I was already very confident in Conor, but when I watched him spar a world champion just a couple of weeks ago, it confirmed to me that the skillset we have transfers effectively.

I’m not under any illusions that Paulie Malignaggi is in the same league as Floyd Mayweather, but it does show that the technique and strategies we’ve been training are working because Conor completely outclassed Paulie. It was a mismatch. It proved to us that we were on the right track.

Conor has been ridiculed from all corners of the boxing world recently. There has been plenty of criticism of his technique as a boxer, which I have found quite amusing.

I can only imagine the fits that Prince Naseem Hamed gave his trainers during his heyday. When he was coming up in the 1990s, I can remember just how confused the commentators were by this guy dropping his hands, changing stances and throwing shots that people just weren’t accustomed to seeing in the boxing ring.

People look back now and talk about the fact that he eventually lost and didn’t fight beyond the age of 28. That’s true, but he went on an incredible run before that and demolished good guys by breaking the rules and disrupting the system. He was a guy who understood that while you have to stay within the ruleset, you don’t have to do things in the same way that they’ve always been done before. There’s more than one way to skin a cat.

There’s room for manoeuvre here. On Sunday morning there will be a lot of people claiming that Conor only won because he’s awkward and he didn’t do things in the conventional way. However, I also think there will be a few younger boxing coaches who will admit to themselves that maybe there are a few lessons they can learn from it.

The boxing coaches that I know, such as Packie Collins, are open-minded to new things. They’re experimenting. But there are many others in the majority who are very set in their ways. In one of the sequences from the sparring footage with Paulie, Conor wobbles him with an absolute peach of a straight left. I could only smile when Freddie Roach was asked if it was good technique and his response was that it wasn’t. I was scratching my head.
How do you ultimately define what constitutes good technique? For me, the only question is ‘does it work?’ If it does, it’s good technique, regardless of whether it matches the criteria developed by the boxing community. It’s as simple as that.

It brings me back to a Muay Thai fight that Aisling Daly had many years ago. I think the fight ended in a draw or a loss for Ais, even though she beat the other girl up and down the ring. Afterwards, one of the judges told me that she was penalised for not being in a Muay Thai stance and not executing a certain number of kicks, or something along those lines. The fact that she dominated her opponent didn’t seem to matter.

People may not approve of the technique, but on Saturday night we’ll be effective and that’s all that matters. These judges are used to watching boxing but I fully expect them to be fair and reasonable in their approach.

Because this event is being co-ordinated by Showtime and Mayweather’s team, many aspects of the build-up have been new to us in the context of what we’re used to with the UFC. We haven’t been familiar with a few things, such as the ‘Grand Arrival’ event on Tuesday here in Las Vegas. There seems to be a lot of ritual attached to a major boxing bout like this, and mostly we’ve had no idea what’s actually involved.

Conor has taken it all in his stride, but there’s no doubt in my mind that from Mayweather’s point of view, it’s all geared towards catching his opponent off guard in the hope that it will distract him from the task at hand. One or two things have turned out a little differently to how they were sold to us, but that’s okay — we’re used to being comfortable in uncomfortable situations.
It has reminded me somewhat of Conor’s UFC debut in Sweden four-and-a-half years ago, when it was just the two of us dealing with all these new experiences. This week has certainly been something new but what matters is that the nine weeks before it couldn’t have been better in terms of preparation. None of the other stuff will matter on Saturday night when it’s just Conor, Floyd and a referee in the ring.

We may not be familiar with the rituals of boxing, but the fundamentals of fighting — understanding distance, being able to hit hard, hit without being hit, pacing yourself for 12 rounds — don’t change. They’re the only questions that have kept me awake and right now I’m completely satisfied that we have answered them all.

Conor is prepared for 12 rounds, but he’ll only need half that. We’re ready to shock the world."

gilmour

everlast75 wrote: »

here's my specific hope for the fight.

Opening bell and McGregor runs at Mayweather. He literally charges the mofo. Tight guard up he bullies Mayweather into the ropes/corner and unleashes. Ref breaks it up. As soon as the ref indicates fight to go ahead, McG does the same.

I know it may not be pure but I hope McG uses all tactics available, not caring for docked points, the off clash of heads, low blow. Mayweather starts to look to the ref to do something but all the ref does is dock a point here and there. Mayweather understands he is in the ring with a guy who just cares about knocking him out and isn't in it for the beautiful sport that it is. Queensbury has gone out the ****ing window. Flod loses his usual composure and is a little unsure.

McGregor wears him down with the clinch and as he shoves Mayweather onto the ropes, he uses his knee to knock Floyd's putting him off balance and knocks Floyd the **** out!

That's my hope!

What I think will happen - FM will TKO McGregor within 4 rounds

Thats when this became a fantasy post

pastorbarrett

Anybody else note an off-form Conor yesterday - thought his delivery was off, lethargic, given to repetition etc. With Lockhart on board you'd imagine this as straightforward as it gets but perhaps nevertheless it takes its toll. Granted, this one has been media heavy too from the start.

I don't know - not the first time I had concerns about him fight week, maybe my nerves more than anything.

everlast75

pastorbarrett wrote: »

Anybody else note an off-form Conor yesterday - thought his delivery was off, lethargic, given to repetition etc. With Lockhart on board you'd imagine this as straightforward as it gets but perhaps nevertheless it takes its toll. Granted, this one has been media heavy too from the start.

I don't know - not the first time I had concerns about him fight week, maybe my nerves more than anything.

he is used to working off the crowds. There were none. Being in a room with Floyd talking for any length of time would send me to sleep too.

darced

This post has been deleted.

walshb

pastorbarrett wrote: »

Anybody else note an off-form Conor yesterday - thought his delivery was off, lethargic, given to repetition etc. With Lockhart on board you'd imagine this as straightforward as it gets but perhaps nevertheless it takes its toll. Granted, this one has been media heavy too from the start.

I don't know - not the first time I had concerns about him fight week, maybe my nerves more than anything.

Both of them spoke jaded stuff. I found the presser about as inspiring and interesting as a wet teabag.

There's only so much scripted pretend passion you can come out with before you just break...

Yesterday was just a toned down scripted presser.

Luckycharms_74

zerks wrote: »

I just lurk in this forum but if anyone has access to Fox Sports 1 ( mobdro;) ) they are discussing the fight on Undisputed.Dana White will be on shortly.

Thanks for that.
Ellerbe on now

Sofiztikated

https://i.imgur.com/WCJZ9k8.jpg

ESB changed planned works so people in Carlow can watch the fight.

EDIT: Changed embedded pic to link, as it's a touch big.

Sofiztikated

everlast75 wrote: »

he is used to working off the crowds. There were none. Being in a room with Floyd talking for any length of time would send me to sleep too.

Even Dana wasn't his usual red faced self. And he forgot to introduce Conor.

Too Tough To Die

Just watched an interview with Joe Cortez. When asked what impressed him about Conor he said 'his mental attitude and his conditioning' and almost as an afterthought, 'his boxing skills kind of impressed me too'. Reading between the lines, it doesn't seem as if he's seen anything that would threaten Floyd. Got the same impression watching an older interview with Tiernan Bradley.

It's in stark contrast to the noises Roddy and Kavanagh have been making about what they've seen in sparring.

wonderfullife

Subcomandante Marcos wrote: »

Ray Mercer KO'd Tim Sylvia in about 5 seconds.

I've said it before but it bears repeating for the sake of accuracy. Kimbo Slice beat Ray Mercer in MMA. Not too long afterwards, Ray Mercer signed to fight a boxing match against Tim Sylvia - in a boxing ring, with a boxing ref under boxing rules. 24 hours before the match, the athletic commission refused to sanction the contest as a boxing match and said they would be willing to sanction it as an MMA fight.

Ray Mercer didn't want to do it again, so Tim Sylvia made a gentlemans agreement not to take Mercer down in the fight, so the fight went ahead in an Octagon under gentlemans rules of no takedowns and no ground work. Citing the Mercer win as an example of a boxer winning in MMA is crazy for the above reasons. If takedowns were allowed, Sylvia would have double legged him and strangled him - just like Kimbo did.

The best examples of boxers transitioning to MMA are Holly Holm and Cody Garbrandt and both of them had nearly 4 years working on their grappling before they got into a cage.

Too Tough To Die wrote: »

Just watched an interview with Joe Cortez. When asked what impressed him about Conor he said 'his mental attitude and his conditioning' and almost as an afterthought, 'his boxing skills kind of impressed me too'. Reading between the lines, it doesn't seem as if he's seen anything that would threaten Floyd. Got the same impression watching an older interview with Tiernan Bradley.

It's in stark contrast to the noises Roddy and Kavanagh have been making about what they've seen in sparring.

Well the interview I saw with Joe Cortez he compared Conor stylistically to Prince Naseem Hamed and he made that comparison with enthusiasm.

That's very telling in terms of what we're going to see Saturday night. People are expecting Conor to brawl in-tight, if Cortez description is fair, we should probably expect a lot of fighting at distance.

Outlaw Pete

pastorbarrett wrote: »

I don't know - not the first time I had concerns about him fight week, maybe my nerves more than anything.

Just watching the latest Mac Life video there and have to say I don't think I've ever seeing him looking as happy and relaxed on the lead up to a fight...........

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KgYAdZ5Y2zw

Outlaw Pete

Luckycharms_74 wrote: »

Thanks for that.
Ellerbe on now

Please tell me I'm not the only one that clicked that pic a bunch of times trying to play it :P

Here it is:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rhN8G1pKpeo

GerryDerpy

Outlaw Pete wrote: »

Just watching the latest Mac Life video there and have to say I don't think I've ever seeing him looking as happy and relaxed on the lead up to a fight...........

That calmness in the spotlight is what sets the champions apart from everybody else. I probably mentioned before how I nearly made it as a pro athlete. What ultimately stopped me in my opinion at least was the crippling fear of failure. I didn't have the balls to put it all on the line.

It is an incredible trait of Conor's, and Floyd's it must be said.

wonderfullife

Really interesting stuff from Jack Slack.

Couple of quotes stick out:

1. "Set aside the fallacies that Conor's left hand is some sort of magic and Floyd Mayweather is virtually unhittable. (Both premises are nonsense.)"

2. "While McGregors chances as a pure striker are probably not great, so much of Mayweathers game revolves around wrestling - so a world class mixed martial artist may be able to tire him out in the clinch. Many of Mayweathers opponents don't know what to do against him in this side of the game, Manny Pacquiao quite literally stopped moving when Floyd moved in to clinch him."

Here's a technical breakdown of how heavily Floyd relies on clinch wrestling for both offence and defence. He focuses on neck ties, head pressure by leaning on his opponents neck etc.

It shows the clinch techniques used by Miguel Cotto (primarily) and Marcos Maidana which were very effective against Floyd. It's worth a watch.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OUc0Z22-jV4

Too Tough To Die

wonderfullife wrote: »

Well the interview I saw with Joe Cortez he compared Conor stylistically to Prince Naseem Hamed and he made that comparison with enthusiasm.

That's very telling in terms of what we're going to see Saturday night. People are expecting Conor to brawl in-tight, if Cortez description is fair, we should probably expect a lot of fighting at distance.

Nah, he said he reminds him of Naz in that his awkward style could throw him off in terms of where he had to position himself as a ref. No surprises there, i think we all expect Conor to try to implement an awkward style.

Eyes Down Field

ESPN's Collin Cowherd highlighted an article from the New York times about Conor McGregor's safety on Saturday night.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OZr4gxFFxzM

I think this could be a huge factor in this fight. The NSAC are under serious pressure after, not just authorizing a fight between a novice against the best boxer in the world but also going outside to the rules and approving 8oz gloves.

If anything happens to McGregor in terms of head injury, The commission will be facing legal action the likes of which they have never seen. This could potentially lead to the commission giving strict instructions to Referee Robert Byrd to stop the fight at the first sign of McGregor taking too much punishment. They can't risk the possibility that he may sustain serious injury and may stop the fight prematurely to, not just protect McGregor, But more importantly protect themselves.

TheCatSpangler

walshb wrote: »

Both of them spoke jaded stuff. I found the presser about as inspiring and interesting as a wet teabag.

There's only so much scripted pretend passion you can come out with before you just break...

Yesterday was just a toned down scripted presser.

I dunno. I've always enjoyed watching Floyd at the final presser. The fight is sold, he's done that part of the job etc. I think that's the only time pre-fight he gets to be himself. I think his respect for the sport and for anyone competing in it always shows through. It's a nice side to see of him in contrast. I said this before on here and got twenty replies about domestic abuse (so yeah, that happened, etc), but when he's not selling himself or a fight, I think he's probably a pretty decent likeable human being. Talent dribbling out his ears, a bit messed up maybe, sort of a Micheal Jackson/child actor/the life that was thrust upon him thing going on, but just a bit sort of vulnerable and isolated personality wise, who loves boxing and is only really comfortable there, in an institutionalized kind of way. I honestly think he's a bit of a sad and endearing character, but mention that to anyone and people start talking about jets and mansions as if that's the end of that conversation. I'd love for him to do a genuine auto-biography when he's sixty, I think he'd be thought of a lot differently, in terms of personality, afterwards, by anyone that read it.

Frank Bullitt

Inviere

Eyes Down Field wrote: »

This could potentially lead to the commission giving strict instructions to Referee Robert Byrd to stop the fight at the first sign of McGregor taking too much punishment. They can't risk the possibility that he may sustain serious injury and may stop the fight prematurely to, not just protect McGregor, But more importantly protect themselves.

Id agree with that, and I'd also agree with the sentiment of it too...safety is paramount here. However, I'd hate to see the fight stopped out of a sense of over protection, and fear of litigation. If Conor loses, I'd like for the loss to be a clear/fair one, and not with him or the team pleading with the ref re a way too early stoppage.

sc86

coverage so far on sky is awfull
very 1 sided
no mma coverage of conor in action
poor knowledge of mcgregors career - his ideal weight
very basic stuff is missing

Outlaw Pete

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1MN0nzD31W4

Outlaw Pete

Conor: "Boom! And the NEW.... King of Boxing!

Floyd (deadpan): "You're a comedian."

:P

darced

This post has been deleted.

xtal191

sonofenoch

sc86 wrote: »

coverage so far on sky is awfull
very 1 sided
no mma coverage of conor in action
poor knowledge of mcgregors career - his ideal weight
very basic stuff is missing

They won't have a clue what mma or the ufc is ......they're just all over it with ****e because they got the coverage.......if they didn't have it it wouldn't exist, bit like the CL and Euros/WC when they come around