Georges St. Pierre’s legendary coach Firas Zahabi has provided his two cents on the Mayweather vs McGregor boxing bout set to take place later this month.
Zahabi discussed his thoughts on how McGregor will fare against the legendary boxer, and what disadvantages he may encounter while boxing Mayweather.
Check out what he had to say:
“McGregor is a sniper. He’s going to snipe the first few rounds, but there’s going to be a point where in my opinion, he won’t be able to keep up with the boxing pace,” Zahabi said.
“The distance is different. McGregor is not used to having somebody so close to him, because there’s no kicks allowed. So when there’s no kicks allowed, we’re a little bit closer to each other and in boxing and in fighting, an inch is a mile. There might be just a few inches of difference but that’s a mile in fighting.”
But the in-fighting is where Mayweather will have to play it the safest, as McGregor’s MMA impulses may lead to an illegal move.
This being the Irishman’s first boxing match, Zahabi says those mixed martial arts habits are hard to break, especially in such a short amount of time.
“When Mayweather gets close, he better tie him up,” he said. “Use his physicality, use his background in wrestling to push him back out and keep the fight at a distance. Not to try to do what Maidana did.”
“He’s going to have to control the range, but there’s going to be a boxing range and in fighting range where Mayweather is just going to be lightyears ahead, and McGregor has no chance in that range. McGregor has to use tie-ups, his experience in wrestling, his physicality of wrestling, his athleticism that he built from wrestling, to push Mayweather out, use his distance and reach, and beat Mayweather conceivably from the outside.”
When pressed for a prediction, the famed MMA trainer was direct and clear; Mayweather will do what he always does.
“He’s gonna beat him by fatiguing him in the clinch or from the outside, sniping like he always does. McGregor is a distance fighter, mostly.”
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