With a potential boxing super fight between Floyd Mayweather and UFC lightweight champion Conor McGregor inching closer and closer towards a reality, some have questioned whether a bout between a boxing legend like Mayweather and a man who has never competed in a professional boxing match like McGregor would even be sanctioned.
According to Nevada State Athletic Commission (NSAC) Chief Bob Bennet, however, the fight would be an ‘approvable’ bout:
“It’s definitely an approvable fight,” he told Boxing News. “This isn’t the first time something like this has happened, it is a bit of an anomaly, it’s unusual because both fighters are phenomenal fighters.
“But back in August of 1957 Floyd Patterson fought Pede Rademacher, Rademacher was making his pro debut, and they fought for the world heavyweight title. Patterson won by KO in the sixth round. So even though this would be Conor’s pro debut as a boxer, there is some precedence, but this would be the first time we see two fighters at this level, one from the MMA world and one from boxing, having a fight.”
Continuing on, Bennet cited McGregor’s training history and the fact that he is primarily a stand-up fighter as reasons why the fight would be sanctioned:
“He’s proven that he can fight as a stand-up fighter. I’ve seen some tape of him boxing, I’m sure I’ll get an updated version of his skill-set as a fighter. I certainly think he’s worthy of being approved to fight Floyd Mayweather. His UFC background is critical in approving this fight.”
“One of the critical things you have to take into account; Conor’s a phenomenal athlete,” he continued.
“When you go back, he took up kickboxing at the age of 12. As a youth he became an All-Ireland boxing champion. He goes to the UFC, of course he had several [MMA] fights before that, and while he’s with the UFC he’s 21-3 with 17 of those wins coming via knockout or TKO.
“He’s a stand-up fighter, he’s a southpaw, he hits like a tonne of bricks, he’s got a great jaw, he’s 5’ 9’’ and he’s got a reach of 74 inches. If you take a look at his wins in the UFC, they’re predominantly from striking [punching] and if you take a look at the fact he was able to move from 145[lbs] to 155 to 170, he’s displayed some awesome unarmed combat skills.”
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