Floyd Mayweather, some would argue, is the best boxer in the world. Others have proclaimed him the greatest of all time. Still, he’s just a boxer.
Conor McGregor, on the other hand, is an entirely different animal. Literally.
McGregor is one of UFC’s biggest stars and trains by studying the way different animals move and hunt their prey. He’s a terrifying human by all accounts and seemingly thinks and acts differently than the rest of us.
So when McGregor called out Mayweather in a recent interview with Esquire Magazine, he raised more than a few eyebrows.
“I don’t look at a man who’s expert in one area as a specialist,” McGregor told Esquire. “I look at him as a rookie in ten other areas. If you can box, what happens if I grab hold of your legs? If you put me face-to-face with Floyd Mayweather — pound-for-pound boxing’s best — if I fought Floyd, I would kill him in less than thirty seconds. It would take me less than thirty seconds to wrap around him like a boa constrictor and strangle him.”
Before this gets out of hand, McGregor’s quote deserves context. Esquire author Chris Jones is trying to illuminate how unique McGregor’s dynamic punches are. When Jones suggests this to McGregor, though, it’s clear the Irishman wants to be know for more than that.
So, it’s really sort of a back-handed compliment. McGregor respects Mayweather as the best in his sport, but still believes he would kill him if Mayweather ever actually stepped into the octagon.
That would be the fight of the century, but considering how long it took Mayweather to agree to his May 2Â bout with Manny Pacquiao, it’s unlikely Mayweather-McGregor will ever come to fruition.
Thumbnail image via Bob DeChiara/USA TODAY Sports Images
