Everyone’s got an opinion on the upcoming megafight between Conor McGregor and Floyd Mayweather. But South African boxer Chris van Heerden has an opinion that actually matters.
The 29-year-old former IBO welterweight champion did a stint as McGregor’s sparring partner, and after spending a few rounds with him in the ring, van Heerden did not come away impressed.
For starters, he doesn’t think that McGregor’s foot work or defensive tactics will prevent Mayweather from landing punches.
“I’m no Mayweather, and I came out of shape, and I landed on Conor McGregor at will,” he told TMZ. “It’s crazy to think that people can actually compare a fighter that’s 0-0 in a boxing ring compared to legend that’s 49-0. If you go on his resume, he’s beaten the best in the world.”
As for McGregor’s ability to land punches on the defensive whiz Mayweather? Good luck. And even if he does, van Heerden doubts that the UFC star has the power to knock out Mayweather.
“He’s been hit by guys that can punch and he doesn’t go down. He’s so good. He knows how to recover,” van Heerden said.
Heerden is hardly the only McGregor doubter out there. ESPN’s Max Kellerman, who’s also an HBO boxing analyst, recently said, “Conor McGregor has exactly a zero percent chance in this fight.”
He added that McGregor hasn’t been training nearly long enough to compete with Mayweather. “No fighter has been able to beat Floyd,” he said. “A couple have come kind of close, but they’ve been training since they were babies.”
McGregor, on the other hand, has been training for about a year.