Teddy Atlas is arguably one of the most important figures in boxing, whether it is the fighters he trains or the commentary he provides at boxing events worldwide.
The famed boxing personality also has an interesting point of view when it comes to the upcoming Conor McGregor versus Floyd Mayweather boxing match.
“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,” said Atlas to ESPN.
There is a huge experience discrepancy in the fight, as Mayweather has fought 49 times and this is going to be McGregor’s professional boxing debut.
Atlas can also understand why some people are saying that this fight is tainting the sport of boxing.
“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,” says Atlas.
Floyd Mayweather versus Conor McGregor takes place on Saturday, August 26 from the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada. Fightful is providing live coverage of the event, with a post-show podcast to follow.
