Teddy Atlas on Mayweather-McGregor: ‘It’s a caveman in there with a defensive genius’

For boxing trainer and longtime commentator Teddy Atlas, not even luck can help Conor McGregor win against Floyd Mayweather.

Conor McGregor is entering his August 26th fight against Floyd Mayweather with zero experience in professional boxing. Given that fact, the logical presumption for the fight’s result is him being outclassed and possibly even knocked out.

Speaking to ESPN’s Scott Van Pelt on Wednesday night, former trainer turned analyst Teddy Atlas echoed these sentiments and painted a picture of how he thinks the fight would go down.

“It doesn’t figure to be competitive. You’ve got a guy that they’re gonna say he’s got a puncher’s chance, but he’s in there with a defensive genius. And they’re taking advantage of your imaginations. ‘Oh, he’s got a puncher’s chance.’ Guys like Maidana, Pacquiao, Canelo — they were better punchers than McGregor and better fighters. They couldn’t hit him. They couldn’t hurt him.

“So, really a puncher’s chance? Those are words, those are words to sell the fight. But in reality, not really a puncher’s chance.”

“At the end of the day, myself, most boxing people that have been around the business think it’s a caveman in there with a defensive genius,” Atlas continued. “And usually cavemen don’t win those matches, because in this case they’re not allowed to bring a club. Even if he brought a club, you know what? There would be a lot of strikes. I don’t think that he’d be catching Floyd too easily with that.”

After describing McGregor as a “C class fighter in the boxing world,” Atlas says he understands both arguments surrounding the fight: the first one about it being a freak show that could tarnish the sport, and the second one being a huge money-making event.

“To the purists, it is. They look at it like you’re tainting the sport. Some people would go as far to say you’re making a mockery of it. But people will definitely say that you’re just exploiting the sport to make this, to make dollars.”

For boxing trainer and longtime commentator Teddy Atlas, not even luck can help Conor McGregor win against Floyd Mayweather.

Conor McGregor is entering his August 26th fight against Floyd Mayweather with zero experience in professional boxing. Given that fact, the logical presumption for the fight’s result is him being outclassed and possibly even knocked out.

Speaking to ESPN’s Scott Van Pelt on Wednesday night, former trainer turned analyst Teddy Atlas echoed these sentiments and painted a picture of how he thinks the fight would go down.

“It doesn’t figure to be competitive. You’ve got a guy that they’re gonna say he’s got a puncher’s chance, but he’s in there with a defensive genius. And they’re taking advantage of your imaginations. ‘Oh, he’s got a puncher’s chance.’ Guys like Maidana, Pacquiao, Canelo — they were better punchers than McGregor and better fighters. They couldn’t hit him. They couldn’t hurt him.

“So, really a puncher’s chance? Those are words, those are words to sell the fight. But in reality, not really a puncher’s chance.”

“At the end of the day, myself, most boxing people that have been around the business think it’s a caveman in there with a defensive genius,” Atlas continued. “And usually cavemen don’t win those matches, because in this case they’re not allowed to bring a club. Even if he brought a club, you know what? There would be a lot of strikes. I don’t think that he’d be catching Floyd too easily with that.”

After describing McGregor as a “C class fighter in the boxing world,” Atlas says he understands both arguments surrounding the fight: the first one about it being a freak show that could tarnish the sport, and the second one being a huge money-making event.

“To the purists, it is. They look at it like you’re tainting the sport. Some people would go as far to say you’re making a mockery of it. But people will definitely say that you’re just exploiting the sport to make this, to make dollars.”