By Keith Idec
LAS VEGAS – Floyd Mayweather Jr. wasn’t just surprised by Conor McGregor’s boxing ability.
The best boxer of this era acknowledged afterward that he was “kind of shocked” by McGregor’s boxing skills, particularly early in a junior middleweight fight Mayweather won by 10th-round technical knockout Saturday night at T-Mobile Arena. McGregor’s technique was flawed, but his awkwardness and the southpaw’s ability to throw punches from unusual angles troubled Mayweather for the first three rounds of their scheduled 12-rounder.
Mayweather made adjustments, though, and proceeded to pick apart McGregor before referee Robert Byrd stopped what had become a one-sided fight at 1:05 of the 10th round.
“He’s a hell of a fighter standing up, kind of shocked me,” Mayweather admitted during the post-fight press conference.
Mayweather and his father/trainer, Floyd Mayweather Sr., expected fatigue to lead Mayweather (50-0, 27 KOs) to stop McGregor even earlier than the 10th round. The 40-year-old Mayweather remained patient and appeared pleased that he had followed the strategy he had developed with the elder Mayweather.
“We had a game plan,” Mayweather said, “and our game plan was to take our time, let him shoot all his heavy shots and keep walking him down, keep walking him down, shoot heavy shots to the body, shoot big shots upstairs and my dad thought it was gonna be a little bit earlier, around the seventh [round] or the sixth. But, you know, it took us a little longer than we expected.
“But we did what we said we was gonna do and I promised everybody – remember this – you know, I told you people, ‘I guarantee you this fight won’t go the distance.’ I told you I was going for the knockout, I was going straight ahead, and with going straight ahead you’re gonna take contact. I understand that. But after 21 years in the sport of boxing, I had some great fights, I had some boring fights. But at the end of the day, I will always be remembered as a winner. No matter how you win, as long as you win. And I knew how to dissect my opponent, I knew how to go out there and just stick to the game plan.”
Ireland’s McGregor trailed Las Vegas’ Mayweather by big margins on all three scorecards entering the 10th round (89-81, 89-82, 87-83). One judge, Dave Moretti, gave McGregor each of the first three rounds on his scorecard.
Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.
