McGregor Has 0% Chance vs Mayweather?
By Ralph Rimpell
PhilBoxing.com
Sat, 17 Jun 2017
The year was 1996 and Mike Tyson, after a stint in jail, was set to face Evander Holyfield who appeared to be on the decline after a terrible performance against Bobby Czyz.
There was a buzz about the fight, which means there was mainstream interest. I was in a Barber shop listening to people talk about how Tyson was gonna beat up Holyfield when I said Holyfield was capable of pulling off the upset and defeating Tyson. The reaction I received from the Patrons and the Barbers in the shop would lead a bystander to believe I was religiously blaspheming!
After I picked Holyfield to defeat Tyson (for the first time) I couldn?t get a word in edgewise! We all know Holyfield went on to shock the boxing world and defeat Tyson by knockout victory. He would do it again 7 months later earning a disqualification victory after Tyson bit a piece of his ear off citing Holyfield was cheating by head butting him and the referee stood by and did nothing.
I was shown respect in that Barber shop after Holyfield defeated Tyson the first time. Previously, Buster Douglas too was a massive underdog when he knocked out an undefeated Tyson (37-0) and seemingly invincible in Tokyo back in 1990. The Douglas fight was the template for the Holyfield prediction. I knew Tyson wasn?t the same fighter after he left his trainer, Kevin Rooney.
In another upset fight, Hasim Rahman knocked Lennox Lewis into next week when the two fought in South Africa and he became the new Heavyweight champ! Reportedly no American media came to cover the fight because Rahman was such an underdog.
I can go on and on by citing examples of underdogs overcoming the odds to win when they were not supposed to win all the way back in the Bible when David defeated Goliath.
This brings me to the recently announced fight of Mayweather-McGregor. For the record, in America, everyone is entitled to their opinion and according to this writer that does not necessarily make them a ?hater? if the opinion is not flattering. However, notable on air, boxing personalities, trainers, boxers, etc. are saying Connor McGregor has 0% chance against Floyd Mayweather. That is just plain stupid!
There seems to be anger against the Mayweather camp because not only does this fight not appear to be competitive, it will also compete with a Miguel Cotto fight on the same night (8/26/17). The Golovkin-Canelo PPV fight (9/16/17) is 3 weeks later. The challenge is, since the Mayweather-McGregor fight has been announced for August 26, 2017 individual promoters (Mayweather Promotions and Golden Boy) have to convince the fans that their fight is the one to purchase on PPV and not the other. Some fans may not want to spend the rumored $99 PPV rate on the Mayweather-McGregor fight and then the $69.99 PPV rate on the Golovkin-Canelo fight in back to back months (August and September).
Floyd Mayweather is a great fighter. No one can take his accomplishments away from him. Remember Sugar Ray Leonard came out of retirement and beat a faded Marvin Hagler who struggled against John Mugabe. Leonard didn?t come out of retirement to fight the Hagler that took out the dangerous Tommy Hearns in what is still considered the most brutal 3 rounds in middleweight history.
The point is most fans would rather see Mayweather fight Pacquiao or Golovkin, but Mayweather doesn?t want to do that. Like Leonard he may ?see something? in McGregor. No doubt that is a probable easy victory to push is professional record to 50-0 and the possibility of another 100 million dollar plus purse depending on Pay Per View sales. This writer and many others understand that. McGregor may be the underdog in this fight because his boxing record stands at 0-0, 0KOs which translate to no boxing experience, but McGregor has knockout power, speed, youth, and intelligence on his side. Therefore this writer gives McGregor a 40% chance of victory to defeat Mayweather. How did I arrive at 40% chance? 10% for each attribute McGregor has in his favor. That is how I arrived at 40%, if that makes any sense.
Mayweather is 40 years old and has not been in the ring in almost two years. So what, according to well-placed sources, that he has never left the gym since the Berto fight, still does road work, and is very close to his fighting weight (147lbs).
No one on this earth has ever defeated father time. Is this fight a mismatch? On paper it appears so and is probably a mismatch in reality. It makes sense for Mayweather to be favored to defeat and school McGregor. However, this writer has seen a few of McGregor?s MMA fights. A 28 year old McGregor may have the speed to outwork Mayweather?s 40 year old legs. Boxing history and life teaches us anything can happen. I too am leaning towards Mayweather to outclass and defeat McGregor, but I seriously doubt that McGregor has 0% chance to defeat Mayweather.
Contact Writer: RLuvsboxing@aol.com
***Ralph Rimpell is a writer based out of New York and is a Boxing Correspondent for Philboxing.com. Ralph holds an undergraduate degree from City University of New York. He has been a Boxing Writer for over ten years having written for several top boxing websites on the World Wide Web. Before becoming a writer, Ralph's passion was for professional wrestling until he realized professional wrestling was entertainment and not a real sport. It was at that time the 1984 US Olympic team made up of future stars such as Evander Holyfield, Meldrick Taylor, Pernell Whitaker, etc. entered the professional ranks and signed with promotional outfit Main Events.It was also at that time a young exciting Heavyweight originally hailing from Brooklyn named Mike Tyson also turned professional and became the face of boxing. Young boxing fan Ralph just couldn't get enough of boxing as a large part of it was being broadcast on "free TV". As time went on, Ralph felt boxing writers were not being forthcoming with their boxing coverage, opinion pieces, interviews, etc. So Ralph decided to write an article and submitted it to a Boxing website thinking it would be deleted and ignored by the Editor. To Ralph's surprise his article was posted on their website and the readers embraced it. The rest is history.
"I thank God for the Internet because it has created opportunities for writers like myself who likely would not have been given an opportunity to write for print publications. I hope someday soon to expand my role in Boxing on different levels." -- Ralph Rimpell
Click here to view a list of other articles written by Ralph Rimpell.
Recent PhilBoxing.com In-House articles:
Carlos De Leon Castro Stays Perfect with Explosive TKO Win in Orlando on DAZN
Thu, 06 Nov 2025Donaire in historic bid
By Joaquin Henson, Thu, 06 Nov 2025BROADCAST DETAILS ANNOUNCED FOR CMH2: BADOU JACK VS. NOEL MIKAELIAN
Thu, 06 Nov 2025Top prospect Marco Romero A victim of dramatic changes in Today’s professional boxing world
Thu, 06 Nov 2025Closing of registration on Nov. 15 for SDSPPO TWG-PAGPTD Run in Tandag
By Lito delos Reyes, Thu, 06 Nov 2025Rafael Espinoza-Arnold Khegai & Tenshin Nasukawa-Takuma Inoue Blockbuster Cards to Stream LIVE on Top Rank Classics FAST Channel
Thu, 06 Nov 2025JUSTIN LACEY-PIERCE OUTLASTS COURTNEY PENNINGTON IN DETROIT
Wed, 05 Nov 2025The José Sulaimán Boxers’ Fund continues supporting fighters worldwide
By Gabriel F. Cordero, Wed, 05 Nov 2025NBA Daily: Sans Injured Young, Hawks Still Dominate Magic 127-112
By Reylan Loberternos, Wed, 05 Nov 2025Kamatyas FIDE Rapid chess on Nov 8
By Marlon Bernardino, Wed, 05 Nov 2025WBC lifts the suspension imposed on Ryan Garcia
By Gabriel F. Cordero, Wed, 05 Nov 2025Siargao pug bags silver in Batang Pinoy
By Lito delos Reyes, Wed, 05 Nov 2025Marcial-Colmenares Middleweight Bout Steals Show at Thrilla in Manila 50th Year (Part 2 of 2)
By Teodoro Medina Reynoso, Wed, 05 Nov 2025Brown vs. Seldin for the WBA Super Lightweight Interim World Title
Wed, 05 Nov 2025FRANCIS LAFRENIÈRE MAKES COMEBACK NOV 29
Wed, 05 Nov 2025