MOST OF THE MONEY’S ON MAYWEATHER
Local MMA godfather says McGregor has no chance against Mayweather Three-division champ questions wisdom of holding fight Trainer says McGregor vs. Mayweather is all about the money
Boxing icon Floyd Mayweather Jr. and MMA superstar Conor McGregor have finally agreed to face each other in a boxing match on Aug. 26 in Las Vegas after months of speculation.
Though most in the boxing world call it a circus or a farce, some in the MMA world think differently and believe that McGregor, a two-division UFC champion, has a chance of beating one of boxing’s biggest names who retired undefeated in 49 fights.
Yaw-Yan Ardigma head Master Benigno “Ekin” Caniga, considered the “Father of Cebu MMA”, believes McGregor has no chance of winning.
“I go with Mayweather in this fight because they are fighting in boxing. If the fight was MMA, I’ll go with Connor. Connor will have a hard time beating Mayweather because he’s too far ahead experience-wise. Mayweather is a clever specialist and a scientific fighter. I go with Mayweather 101 percent,” he said.
Three-division world champion and current International Boxing Federation (IBF) flyweight king Donnie Nietes also feels that the 28-yearold McGregor is over-reaching by challenging Mayweather, a boxer who has beaten boxing’s best like Manny Pacquiao, Oscar de La Hoya and Saul Alvarez.
“I don’t know what hap- pened, why a boxer and an MMA fighter are fighting. I guess it’s about bragging rights. But I think both of them will give the people an exciting show. In short, it’s all about the money,” he said. “I think he has no chance. Boxing is different from MMA.”
Cebuano MMA fighter Roel Rosauro believes that the 40-year-old Mayweather has the edge because of experience but he feels that McGregor has a puncher’s chance.
“If he can land a lucky punch and knock him out, but if not, he will lose because it’s a 12-round fight. This will be a good fight because it’s the first time that an MMA fighter and boxer will fight,” said Rosauro.
Former world title challenger Melvin Jerusalem also believes anything can happen inside the boxing ring and that an upset isn’t impossible.
“Even though if he is from a different sport, he believes in himself and he wants to test his skills. I think that he has a chance of an upset. Because in boxing, even though how cautious you are, there will always be a time that you will lose. Like what happened to Roman (Gonzalez) who got beaten by a former garbage man (Srisaket Sor Rungvisai) in Thailand,” he said.
Ex-world title challenger and current ALA Gym head trainer Edito Villamor is intrigued by the fight and believes that a fight like this is good for the sport.
“In the boxing circle, we all know that McGregor has no chance of winning because he has no experience in boxing but on how Mayweather will win, we have to see it on Aug. 26. In the MMA circle, they believe that McGregor can win because Mayweather will have a hard time against a southpaw. I believe that they will roughhouse Mayweather and not let him fight his style. But that depends if McGregor can take Mayweather’s power, on how tough he is. This is good for boxing and for MMA as well. It’s entertainment,” he said.
Though Caniga believes McGregor has no chance of winning, he echoes Villamor’s sentiments.
“I think it’s a good thing a fighter from another sport will challenge Mayweather. It makes it exciting,” he said.
The Mayweather vs. Pacquiao super fight racked up a record number of 4.4 million PPV (payper-view) buys in the US.
This fight should bring in more, according to Villamor.
“Maybe yes (it will break the record) because of the MMA fans who are more excited for this fight plus the boxing fans who will watch this fight,” he said. /