Veteran trainer Abel Sanchez, who currently trains world champions Gennady Golovkin and Murat Gassiev, views UFC superstar Conor McGregor as a very dangerous opponent for Floyd Mayweather Jr.
Mayweather (49-0, 26 KOs) is coming back to the sport on August 26th, after being retired for two years, and takes on McGregor at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
McGregor has no professional boxing experience, which makes him a massive underdog in the contest - as he goes up against one of the best defensive fighters in boxing history.
Sanchez is an offensive specialist and prefers to train boxers who come forward and bring the fight.
Because McGregor is a tremendous underdog, Sanchez believes the UFC lightweight champion has nothing to lose - while Mayweather can look very bad in the bout if McGregor makes things competitive, even for a few rounds.
“[McGregor] has nothing to lose. Nothing. But Floyd can look bad if he doesn’t dominate the way he should dominate. Absolutely [McGregor is a dangerous man]. You’re talking about a guy whose bravado is as big as he is. He thinks he’s it, and that makes him very dangerous. The more rounds he goes, the better it is for Conor McGregor," Sanchez told UFC.com.
In order to win, Sanchez would advise McGregor to let his hands go and never stop letting his hands go. The biggest mistake he could make, says Sanchez, is to wait on Mayweather and allow him to control the pace.
"The only chance he’s got is to move his hands and be faster than Floyd and first before Floyd and just touch him," Sanchez said.
“They say (McGregor) is a big puncher, and if he waits for an opportunity to land a shot, he’s gonna get drilled by Floyd while waiting,” Sanchez said. “So what I would try to do is get him to understand that he’s got to work three minutes out of three minutes and move his hands. Obviously he’s got to be in great shape to do that, so that would be part of it, and that’s why I’d worry about having enough time to get to that point.”
“He has to make Floyd uncomfortable, and the only way he can make Floyd uncomfortable is to throw shots. He’s a bigger guy than Floyd, but if he’s waiting to land one on the chin, it may be all night. So he needs to hit him anywhere. Just piss him off and hopefully, while you’re moving your hands, he makes a mistake and you catch him.”
