How Conor McGregor can do the impossible and beat Floyd Mayweather

By Gareth A Davies, Daily Telegraph UK

Conor McGregor has self-belief like no other fighter. He has a devastating left hand, which lands from awkward angles on the counter, and a longer reach than Floyd Mayweather.

He's also a bigger man - he will be 12 pounds heavier on the night - and believes he can beat Mayweather. That's huge.

He needs to make it a dogfight early, even get in a foul or two. Get Mayweather complaining to the referee. McGregor needs to be explosive, unorthodox, make unusual moves and make it an ugly, messy fight, and attempt to bully Mayweather like Marcos Maidana did successfully for five rounds in their first fight.

It's a puncher's chance, really, because it is nigh-on impossible for McGregor to win this on points. In reality, I have Mayweather by mid-rounds TKO.

Dan Hardy, former UFC welterweight title challenger

Floyd Mayweather has this fight on his terms but, even so, Conor McGregor stepping into boxing is fascinating for everyone and the world is watching. Conor marches to the beat of his own drum in the UFC and the reason why he has been given an opportunity like this is because he talks and backs it ups.

McGregor has nothing to lose. Conor is stepping out of his comfort zone but Floyd is not a puncher and there would be far more risk involved if he was fighting some of the other top names in the UFC lightweight division, such as Nate Diaz, Tony Ferguson or Khabib Nurmagomedov.

In my mind Floyd wins by decision but I only say that because it's the safest best. Floyd is the best defensive boxer of all time and doesn't take too many risks. That said, he has fought boxers in his previous 49 fights. They move and train like a boxer. Boxing has been established for so long, the skill set has been refined so it can be mastered. In MMA, it's still being worked out.

What Conor brings that Floyd hasn't previously encountered is unpredictability. Conor will not fight like a boxer and he won't replicate what other boxers have done in the past. He has a different fighting stance and he has the power to throw a punch down the barrel and connect with Floyd. He will have sharpened his skills and timing.

They are both at a disadvantage, maybe more so for Floyd because Conor has never boxed before and Floyd has nothing to look at or refer to on the tapes.

Scott Coker, CEO of MMA promotion Bellator

Boxing is an amazing combat sport. I personally love boxing. I grew up watching it. I love the history. I grew up with Leonard, Hagler, Hearns, Duran. But it's not fair to put McGregor in a combat situation where you can only use his boxing game.

Yes, anything can happen at the end of the day. But people say he should go spar this guy or that guy and I say, 'look at the level of Floyd Mayweather, what are you going to do for two months that will get you ready for Floyd Mayweather?' I don't care who you spar with. It would be like saying to Floyd, hey, go take down Conor McGregor in a cage and you have two months to do it, so go train with the best wrestlers. It doesn't matter. It's not going to make an impact.

We all know why it's happening. It's big dollars, a big promotion. If Conor gets a lucky punch, and does win, he will be the greatest combat sports fighter of all-time.

Artem Lobov, McGregor team-mate and UFC fighter

We always talk about 'effective fighting' at Straight Blast Gym, where we train. The reason why all these boxing people are saying it's just going to be Mayweather is because as humans we are not very good at assessing something.

There is no footage of Conor boxing, so it's easy for them to make that judgement. But I've seen him box for a very long time. He started with boxing and has done it since he was nine years old. He has had multiple amateur boxing fights. He trains with professional boxers all the time.

For me, I have a lot more to go on to make my prediction. That's why I'm confident he's going to win.

In boxing they say McGregor is awkward. To be called technical it takes years of approval. But once it is 'effective', it's good for us. If he wanted to he could just walk through every single shot that Mayweather throws. Mayweather doesn't have the power to hurt Conor. With eight ounce gloves, that's a bigger issue for Floyd. It's a better thing for us.

I see Conor stopping him in round three or four.

Owen Roddy, McGregor striking coach

Conor is unique, and he moves a totally different way. He figures people out so quickly. We've done this with amateur boxers, professional boxers. Every single person that has walked in the gym and I've watched him spar it takes him a minute or two. But it takes no more than a minute for him to figure them out and put the shows in that apply.

When you see this happen over and over again, you can't doubt him. He's got pinpoint accuracy and he hits like a middleweight or a heavyweight. His timing is exceptional. His ability to put you in a position that allows him to find a counter for is unbelievable. And there's just something about the power and the weight in his shots.

I expect Conor to be able to do whatever he wants in there. We know Mayweather is fast and a good counter striker. All those things make him an exceptional boxer. But they don't make him a Conor McGregor. Conor's going to paint many pictures. I believe Floyd won't know what to expect with Conor.

Once Conor lands once it's a battle of will for the opponent. How much can they hang in there? Not many people can hang around in there. Conor will stop Floyd inside four rounds. It will take Conor maybe a round or two to get used to how he moves, the shots he's throwing, and then put the shots in that apply.

James Gallagher, Irish MMA fighter

He's fighting the best there is in the world. But first it was 'you're never going to beat Jose Aldo'. Everyone says he couldn't beat Jose Aldo. He knocked him out in 13 seconds. Then it was 'he can't beat the wrestler'. He beat Chad Mendes. Then it was 'you'll never move up to lightweight and win that belt'. Then he knocked out (Eddie) Alvarez with his hands behind his back.

Conor needs to pop that straight left right on Mayweather's chin. He just needs to hit him with one clean shot. When Conor hits you, you go to sleep.

Matt Mitrione, MMA heavyweight

I think Conor gasses after three or four, maybe five, rounds. Then Floyd actually gets a finish, which he never normally does. Or Floyd dances around him and clowns him for 12 rounds.

If Floyd opens up, which he never does, Conor has a chance. He can counter punch really well and he's long. And Eddie Alvarez said before that it wasn't the power of Conor's punch, it was how fast it went from his hip to his face. It caught him before he could brace his neck.

Conor's quick. I'm not taking that away from Conor. But boxers are quick. I just don't see it really happening. But I'm proud of McGregor for doing this. I don't think Conor really has a chance. It's less than one per cent probably. I respect him for having the stones to do it. Floyd sure as hell wouldn't come into an MMA fight.

Chris Lytle, former UFC fighter who had 15 pro boxing matches

There's nothing more I'd love to see than Conor knocking him out. I like Conor. I think he's a great fighter. He has a puncher's chance. I would give him a very low percentage chance of winning this fight, though.

The problem for Conor is that you get elite boxers who cannot hit Floyd. If Conor hits the guy five times in the fight I will be impressed. Conor is a good boxer, not an elite boxer. He's an elite MMA guy. Elite boxers don't touch this guy. How do you get a guy who isn't a true boxer to hit him? It's not going to happen. It's a different game.

The distance is way different. That's all they do. If all you do is throw jabs now, the best jab is going to win. It doesn't matter how good your right hand or left hook is. So you're basically taking away a lot of McGregor's weapons - kicks, elbows, takedowns. All you're throwing are hands and you're limited to two weapons instead of 10.

All Floyd has been doing since he came out the womb is boxing. Unless he has slowed that much with two years away... which he's not going to have in this amount of time... I just don't see him getting hit.

Conor's going to go out there, he's always got that puncher's chance, but punchers who were great boxers never had a chance against this guy.

Henry Hooft, former world champion kick-boxer and now MMA coach

Normally, you can't really box with a boxer if it's straight boxing. But Conor is somebody a little special and a fight is a fight. Two people will punch each other. Normally the best boxer in the world, one of the best ever, against an MMA guy feels a little weird, but I'm going to watch it.

There's always a chance when two guys enter the ring but normally Mayweather is really, really good. But I'm a Conor fan, I like him a lot. He does a lot of weird stuff nobody thought he would do.

Logically, no, he can't win, but Conor McGregor is special. He's very strong, and if he doesn't knock Floyd out, which he really has to try to do through smart aggression, I think Floyd will TKO Conor in the later rounds as he gets frustrated.

Brad Pickett, retired UFC fighter and former amateur boxer

Technically McGregor's going to have to keep his range. Mayweather is going to make him punch and miss and then grab on to him and wear him down in the first couple of rounds and just slow the pace down.

McGregor has got to keep him on the end of his long punches and try to land that straight left. If he lands that on anybody, they are in trouble.

McGregor's movement is going to be so unorthodox for a boxer. Floyd Mayweather has been so used to fighting other boxers for many, many years. When you go to a boxing gym you get taught how to box. He's fought many high-level boxers. He's seen all those looks. He hasn't seen a Conor McGregor look.

In MMA you have to express yourself and do what you want. You're not under restrictions. You don't do this, you can't do that. Me, personally, I see McGregor coming out and doing some fancy sort of stuff and Mayweather taking a back seat for the first couple of rounds trying to figure out this puzzle.

McGregor's a counter puncher, yes, but he's an aggressive counter puncher where he goes forward and tries to make you punch and miss. I think he will still try and do that. Go out and put pressure on him. He's the much bigger man. I think he should try to push Mayweather around a bit. But I think Mayweather will be too experienced for that.

If this becomes a technical boxing match, McGregor will get beat hands down, of course. But if he makes it a bit of a dog fight, gets in his face, hits him with a few punches to the back of his head, and Mayweather starts complaining because it's getting dirty, we're in for a fight.