Tag: John Kavanagh

Coach Kavanagh Doubts a Conor McGregor Homecoming Bout Will Ever Happen

Irish fans hoping to see UFC star Conor McGregor fight on home soil look set to be disappointed, if John Kavanagh is right about one thing Taxes… Both Kavanagh and McGregor have spoken out in the past regarding a bout in the famous Croke Park stadium in Dublin, but the dream appears to be hindered […]

Irish fans hoping to see UFC star Conor McGregor fight on home soil look set to be disappointed, if John Kavanagh is right about one thing Taxes… Both Kavanagh and McGregor have spoken out in the past regarding a bout in the famous Croke Park stadium in Dublin, but the dream appears to be hindered […]

Conor McGregor’s Coach Offers Strange View On Paulie Malignaggi Knockdown Saga

In the hours right after his media workout from the UFC Performance Institute in Las Vegas, Nev. yesterday, another veritable windfall of news has surfaced surrounding Conor McGregor’s ongoing drama with former boxing champion Paulie Malignaggi. The fire was taken to a new level late Friday night when Dana White released footage of the sparring session […]

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In the hours right after his media workout from the UFC Performance Institute in Las Vegas, Nev. yesterday, another veritable windfall of news has surfaced surrounding Conor McGregor’s ongoing drama with former boxing champion Paulie Malignaggi.

The fire was taken to a new level late Friday night when Dana White released footage of the sparring session in question where Malignaggi was rumored to have been dropped by McGregor, photos of which caused Malignaggi to leave the lightweight champion’s training camp for his super fight with Floyd Mayweather Jr. and go on a literal tour of McGregor-blasting interviews.

The footage has certainly shed some light on the uncertainty of if Malignaggi was dropped, even if he may have been falling off balance in the clip. The bad blood has begun reaching another pinnacle of tension, but McGregor’s longtime coach John Kavanagh offered a different point of view in an interview with MMA Fighting’s Ariel Helwani after the media workout.

To him, he’s not paying attention to all of the noise and media coverage, yet is actually thankful to have had a professional like Malignaggi to spar with his pupil:

“I haven’t actually seen anything. You’re scrolling through news articles and I’ve seen he’s obviously done quite a few I’ve genuinely not watched one. The only thing I would say is I was very grateful to have him here, we got two great spars out of him. I’m very confident in Conor’s skills, but the engineer in me would have to be honest and say I hadn’t seen him spar a high-level boxer until I saw him spar Paulie, and it was nice to be confirmed that I was very sure his technique and skills would cross over to this area, and that only confirmed it for me, so I’m very happy with Paulie; I’m very glad he was part of the team.

“To be honest, I expected to get two good spars out of him anyway. The fact that it went sour and he’s unhappy; well, what comment can I make on that? That’s up to him. And I’ve literally not watched one of his 50 interviews.”

Found of Dublin, Ireland’s Straight Blast Gym (SBG), Kavanagh made it a point to align his allegiance with MMA, a sport that’s obviously brought McGregor his massive fame. His passion of MMA is one that Kavanagh isn’t worried “The Notorious” will return to despite rumors suggesting he will retire after netting a rumored $100 million payday against Mayweather.

He knows Malignaggi is angling for a fight with McGregor, but Kavanagh wants his top fighter back in the octagon before the year is up:

“I don’t pay too much attention to worry. Conor loves fighting, and Conor he loves mixed martial arts. He’s of course going to have a nice bank account when this is all over with, but you can only drive you car at a time, you can only have one meal at a time, and fighting is in his heart, it’s in his blood. I have no doubt he’ll be back in the cage.”

“Well, I have seen those articles and those headlines, and that seems to be Conor, he goes from one major fight to the next. I would hope it would be MMA next. But yeah, look, MMA’s my love, MMA’s my passion, I want to see him back in the UFC before the year’s over.”

As for the nefarious sparring session, Kavanagh stated that he believed the footage would be released by rounds after the fight before admitting while he was no expert in boxing, it did seem that McGregor did knock Malignaggi down in the video:

“As far as I’m aware, the rounds will be released after the fight. Obviously after the fight. We’re hardly gonna release 12 rounds of homework before the fight. But, I won’t claim to be an expert of boxing, but I saw him get hit in the head and fall down, so that to me looks like a knockdown.”

Kavanagh was then asked about the reported change to eight-ounce gloves for McGregor’s fight with Mayweather, something he believes would benefit their team:

“Oh, the lighter the glove the better for us.”

You can watch Kavanagh’s full interview with Ariel Helwani here:

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Coach: There Are Openings In Mayweather’s Game

Word out of the Conor McGregor camp is that there are openings in undefeated boxing legend Floyd Mayweather Jr.’s game, and the Irishman is looking to exploit them come fight night on August 26th. McGregor and Mayweather are set to throw down in the boxing ring from the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada on […]

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Word out of the Conor McGregor camp is that there are openings in undefeated boxing legend Floyd Mayweather Jr.’s game, and the Irishman is looking to exploit them come fight night on August 26th.

McGregor and Mayweather are set to throw down in the boxing ring from the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada on August 26, 2017, and most are giving the heavy-handed Irishman no chance against “Money.” “The Notorious One’s” longtime head coach John Kavanagh has heard the mockery McGregor has been receiving, and says it’s only adding fuel to the UFC lightweight champ’s fire.

Kavanagh was a guest on The MMA Hour yesterday (Mon. June 26, 2017) and stated that he and McGregor have proved the combat sports world wrong on multiple occasions before, and plan to do so again against Mayweather (quotes via MMA Fighting):

“We’ve always done best when everybody is just mocking the idea of an unknown Dublin guy saying he’s going to take on the whole UFC roster and win the belt,” Kavanagh said. “Those challenges seem to bind us even closer than we already are. I’m really seeing that spirit lit up in the team. It’s always there, but for whatever reason, because we’re being laughed at, because we’re being mocked, it’s making us even stronger.”

Mayweather has racked up a record of 49-0 throughout his illustrious boxing career, defeating all-time greats such as Manny Pacquiao, Canelo Alvarez, Miguel Cotto, Shane Mosley, Oscar De La Hoya, Zab Judah, and many more. Despite his spectacular career inside the ring, Kavanagh says that there are some holes in Mayweather’s game that they plan on capitalizing on:

“Obviously we’re talking about one of boxing’s all-time greatest,” Kavanagh said. “But there’s also some things that there’s openings. As [UFC president] Dana White has posted a few clips, nobody is perfect. Everybody can get it. We’re just looking to make those openings happen more often than they usually do.”

Heading into the fight, McGregor is representing the entire sport of mixed martial arts (MMA) in arguably the most high-profile fight off all time, and according to Kavanagh, that’s something the Irishman’s camp holds very proudly:

“We’re very proud to be carrying that torch,” Kavanagh said. “Like I said, the mood in the camp is one of ready to see a lot of jaws drop on the night.”

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John Kavanagh Says Conor McGregor Does Best When He’s Mocked

Conor McGregor achieves peak performance when the doubters creep in says coach John Kavanagh. On Aug. 26, McGregor will step inside the boxing ring for the first time against Floyd Mayweather. The “super fight” airs live on Showtime pay-per-view. Many are counting McGregor out due to his lack of boxing experience going against arguably the […]

Conor McGregor achieves peak performance when the doubters creep in says coach John Kavanagh. On Aug. 26, McGregor will step inside the boxing ring for the first time against Floyd Mayweather. The “super fight” airs live on Showtime pay-per-view. Many are counting McGregor out due to his lack of boxing experience going against arguably the […]

John Kavanagh Says Conor McGregor is Eyeing UFC Fight in December

If Conor McGregor’s coach is to be believed, then “Notorious” may be returning to the Octagon this December. McGregor is preparing for a massive “super fight” against Floyd Mayweather. That isn’t stopping him from doing what he’s done for years. That being planning his next move. In a recent column on The 42, John Kavanagh […]

If Conor McGregor’s coach is to be believed, then “Notorious” may be returning to the Octagon this December. McGregor is preparing for a massive “super fight” against Floyd Mayweather. That isn’t stopping him from doing what he’s done for years. That being planning his next move. In a recent column on The 42, John Kavanagh […]

Coach: McGregor “100% Confident” In Victory Over Mayweather

John Kavanagh knows Conor McGregor better than most, and the Irishman’s longtime head coach recently said that McGregor, as well as himself, is ‘100% confident’ that he’ll score a victory over Floyd Mayweather in their upcoming boxing match on Aug. 26 in Las Vegas: “I believe we have a number of advantages going into this […]

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John Kavanagh knows Conor McGregor better than most, and the Irishman’s longtime head coach recently said that McGregor, as well as himself, is ‘100% confident’ that he’ll score a victory over Floyd Mayweather in their upcoming boxing match on Aug. 26 in Las Vegas:

“I believe we have a number of advantages going into this fight,” Kavanagh wrote for The 42. “Often, people who are experts in a certain field will tell you that it can actually be more awkward to deal with somebody who’s not from the same field. They’d rather deal with the top contender from their own discipline because he’ll move in a way that you assume he’ll move.

“Mayweather has been in the boxing world for his entire career and everyone he’s faced has moved in a certain way that he’s pre-conditioned to handle. Now he’s going up against a guy who doesn’t follow any set patterns, who can deploy a variety of different styles of fighting and is not one bit intimidated. Conor is — as we all are here — 100% confident in victory. That kind of person is very difficult to deal with.”

Kavanagh may have a point here, but the fact remains that McGregor, the UFC’s lightweight champion, has never competed in a professional boxing match, while Mayweather is highly regarded as the best boxer of his generation. “Money” is also a former five division world champion, as well as the former pound-for-pound king.

At the end of the day, Kavanagh feels as if McGregor will shock the world against Mayweather before returning to the UFC for a bout in December, which is interesting given the fact that many are skeptical as to whether or not the “Notorious” one will ever return to the Octagon:

“Many of the questions I’ve been receiving over the past week have focused on when Conor will fight in the UFC again. My expectation is that it will happen this year, although it’s always difficult to predict what Conor is going to do next.

“If he goes in there and knocks out Mayweather in the first round, there will probably be talk of rematches and stuff like that. But the tentative plan, as I see it, is certainly for a fight in the UFC in December. But in the meantime we’re completely focused on boxing and Floyd Mayweather.”

Are you giving McGregor any chance against Mayweather?

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