Chris Van Heerden

Van Heerden explains why he released a video of him sparring with McGregor along with comments where he said McGregor would not be able to ‘land’ a punch on Mayweather.

Because people are tweeting and talking and telling me that Mayweather has his hands full landing on Conor McGregor. I’m a professional fighter — boxer. And I’m standing up for the sport. I was just making it very clear that, don’t be ridiculous. If I could land, don’t tell me Floyd Mayweather is not gonna land…This is just a platform to prove that in boxing, a mixed martial artist taking on a boxer in the world of a boxer, you’re not gonna beat a boxer in boxing taking him on if you come from mixed martial arts.

Despite his earlier comments, he says that McGregor has a small change.

Yes, he has a slight chance of pulling it off. He’s a fighter, he’s a mixed martial artist. He can land one big punch. It can happen. This is fighting, it’s two men in the ring. The opportunity is there. He doesn’t have a zero chance of beating or causing the biggest upset in the sport. Yes, he has. In my opinion and I’m gonna stick by it and I’m not afraid to say it, there’s no way he’s beating Mayweather…I have nothing but respect for McGregor. There’s no bad blood. I think [he’s] phenomenal. And being a southpaw, it’s gonna work in his favor. He’s got the power to do it. I wasn’t fazed by his power, I wasn’t hurt. But again, we didn’t have 10-ounce gloves on and he’s got some small chance of causing an upset.

https://youtu.be/ZchzkTK1Myw

Van Heerden, who sparred with McGregor in May 2016, says McGregor cannot beat Mayweather at boxing. Van Heerden says that despite having just come back from vacation and being out of shape, he still “landed at will” on McGregor.

I had an opportunity to work with him. It’s crazy I read all of these posts where people go: Mayweather is gonna have his hands full landing on McGregor because of Conor’s skill and footwork and Mayweather. I’m no Mayweather, and out of camp and out of shape, I landed on Conor McGregor. And my trainer, at my ringside. We landed at will. It is crazy to think that people can actually compare a fighter who is 0/0 compared to a legend that’s 49/0, and who has beaten the best of the best in the world…[McGregor does not have that knockout power.] Mayweather knows how to recover. He hasn’t lost many rounds.