Boxing legend Mike Tyson believes Conor McGregor delivered ‘a spectacle’ when he made his boxing debut three years ago.
Back in August 2017, the Ultimate Fighting Championship’s biggest star donned the eight-ounce gloves for the first time to tussle with the undefeated boxer, Floyd Mayweather Jr, in a crossover bout dubbed as the ‘most lucrative fight in history.’
As expected, Mayweather came out on top and defeated McGregor in the tenth round by way of technical knockout.
In a recent episode of Tyson’s Hotboxin’ podcast, where UFC heavyweight Francis Ngannou made an appearance, the crossover fight was one of the topics discussed, with ‘Iron Mike’ commending the Irishman for a spectacular performance against ‘Money.’
“Listen, [it was a spectacle] but this is where it’s not a spectacle — it’s a spectacle but this is where it’s not: he never really had a boxing match in his life, right? He didn’t have a boxing match [and] he went 10 rounds with the greatest fighter in the last 100 years of boxing,” he said.
The Winner
For the former undisputed heavyweight champion, McGregor was the real winner of the fight as he was able to land punches and lasted for ten rounds against a world champion in his first professional boxing fight.
“Think about that. … He went 10 rounds, scored punches on the greatest fighter in the last 100 years. Did he do something? Did he accomplish something?” Tyson asked.
He explained: “Imagine a guy never had a boxing match and he’s fighting boxing with me. He goes 10 rounds and he’s fighting me and we’re fighting. Imagine if he did and we’re fighting and I’m doing my thing.”
“That’s a bad motherf—er. First fight, 10 rounds with the champ, the best champ in the last 50 years or something like that. That’s the winner of the fight! That’s the winner”
“This should’ve been a one round, two-round fight. Floyd should’ve took it easy. He had to sweat, he had to fight him. He had to fight somebody who was throwing back.”
Shivered
While ‘Iron Mike’ has high praises for McGregor in his boxing debut, the UFC star himself admitted he can’t even watch the footage of Mayweather fight.
“I shiver when I see the way I was throwing my punches back then. I just wasn’t sitting right on them, just floating to the air,” Conor said ahead of his MMA return in January.
The former UFC two-weight champion has thanked Tyson for his recent comments and has vowed to solve the Mayweather puzzle to beat him in an ‘inevitable’ rematch.
(Featured Image Source: Instagram/ Mike Tyson and Conor McGregor)