"Boxing is real easy. Life is much harder."
-- Floyd Mayweather Jr.
By Alex P. Vidal
NEW YORK CITY -- Aside from his power and durability, Conor McGregor can't convince oddsmakers that he has what it takes to upset Floyd Mayweather Jr.
Like Angel Manfredy in 1998, oddsmakers predict that McGregor (21-3, 18 KOs) will be swallowed whole by Floyd Mayweather Jr. (49-0, 26 KOs) when they clash at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas on August 26.
Manfredy, hard-hitting like McGregor, was highly-touted when he mauled Calvin Grove, Jorge Paez, and the legendary Arturo Gatti one after the other. But against Mayweather Jr., he was blasted to bits in two rounds.
His reputation as a heavy bomber and giant killer had no match to Mayweather's dizzying speed and excellent footwork.
As a mixed martial arts (MMA) terror, McGregor's duel with boxing's most celebrated superstar will be his debut in the square jungle.
The loquacious 29-year-old Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) mainstay from Dublin will be fighting the 40-year-old undefeated world boxing champion in the later's backyard.
It's like Tiger Woods challenging Michael Jordan to a three-point shooting contest.
COMPARISON
In terms of defense, endurance, speed, and experience, McGregor pales in comparison.
McGregor, who logged most of his wins as a featherweight and lightweight, will face the man who opitomizes the art of boxing to hit and not to get hit in the jr. middleweight category.
Shane Mosley, Victor Ortiz, Manny Pacquiao, Marcos Maidana, and Saul Alvarez could unload bombs like McGregor but were all wiped out by the first boxer in history to equal the 49-0 world record established by heavyweight Rocky Marciano.
McGregor's takedown defense is impressive, but against a scientific fighter like Mayweather, it won't help him in a boxing match.
According to FightMetric, McGregor has defended just 57 percent of his strikes during his UFC career, worst of any current male champion.
Mayweather, on the other hand, owns a boxing-best plus-24.5 plus/minus rating, per CompuBox and landed 43.4 percent of his punches, while his foes landed only 18.9 percent.
