Cris Cyborg Offers Prediction For Mayweather vs. McGregor
Cris Cyborg knows who she’s picking for next weekend’s (Sat. August 26, 2017) boxing mega-fight between UFC lightweight champion Conor McGregor and the undefeated Floyd Mayweather Jr.
The UFC women’s featherweight champion has established herself as one of the most vicious knockout artists the sport of mixed martial arts (MMA) has ever seen, and has also expressed a great interest in pursing a boxing career on top of that. The Brazilian has been training with two-time Olympic gold medalist Claressa Shields as of late, who said she believes Cyborg would be a “monster” inside the squared circle.
During a recent media scrum in Brazil, Cyborg continued to express her aspirations to lace up the gloves and earn an opportunity similar to that of Conor McGregor (quotes via MMA Fighting):
“I’d like to box,” Cyborg said. “Claressa and I trained together and there’s no one better for you to train but an Olympic medalist. She’s fast. It’s good to train with someone better than you because you evolve, you see more things. But I would definitely box if I have an opportunity like McGregor.”
As for her prediction for next week’s fight, Cyborg finds it difficult to fathom that a man who has never competed in a professional boxing bout in his entire life will go in and defeat, arguably, the greatest the sport has ever seen:
“I don’t believe he will win the fight,” she said. “Mayweather will win this fight, for sure. He’s at another level. But (McGregor) is brave, and he opened doors for MMA (fighters) in boxing and for boxing fans to come to MMA, and vice versa. It will help our sport grow.”
“It’s different when you train with someone that knows boxing. But when you train with someone that doesn’t know boxing … it’s not that McGregor doesn’t know boxing, but he’s not a boxer his entire life,” Cyborg said. “When you’re sparring with someone that is not from boxing it’s more difficult because he throws a different jab compared to a boxer, has different faints, so there are more surprises.
“But I don’t believe McGregor will win. Mayweather is a boxing legend.”
