Jeffries: ‘This guy can box like f-k’
Jeffries tweets his impressions of McGregor’s boxing skills.
Great to have @TheNotoriousMMA in @BoxNBurn today sparring-
Wow this guy can box like fu*k 👊🏻 pic.twitter.com/Bo0h5pRk84
— Tony Jeffries OLY (@Tony_Jeffries) May 17, 2016
Jeffries: McGregor can beat Mayweather
Jeffries says he was impressed by McGregor’s boxing ability.
He had really good boxing knowledge, amazing footwork, and he was very athletic and elusive. I thought his boxing was going to be amateur level, but he could beat a lot of professional fighters. Conor would beat some very high-talent professionals…I’ve totally changed my opinion. I thought about the [Mayweather] fight a lot. Conor, with how elusive he is and his style, he’s tough as well. What people don’t realise with Conor is that he’s got an iron jaw. Yes, he was rocked once by one of the best boxers in the UFC in Nate Diaz. He got caught with a solid right hand with a four-ounce glove. He got rocked, but who wouldn’t? I give him a shot [at beating Mayweather]. He’s fit, strong, has a tough chin, and one thing about Floyd is that he’s not a puncher, and they’re wearing bigger gloves. Floyd’s hardest fight was with Maidana. McGregor has a similar ‘rough’ sort of style. I don’t think it’s as one-sided as people think it is.
Jeffries: McGregor-Mayweather will happen
Jeffries says that McGregor-Mayweather will happen.
I think it’s a possibility it could happen. People are saying it’s a circus and all that but I think it could happen. And why not? The biggest pay-per-view star of all time in boxing against the biggest pay-per-view star of all time in MMA. I would like to see it. With it being two different sports it might be (difficult). But I would really like to see that fight. I really would.
Jeffries: McGregor’s sparring is ‘high level’
Jeffries, who won a bronze medal in boxing at the 2008 Olympic Games, and has watched McGregor spar with Van Heerden, says McGregor’s critics are wrong.
I was there for the spar and have been there for many spars and they have been competitive, certainly not one way like everyone is making out. People see McGregor take a punch and they jump on him. Van Heerden is a world class boxer though, always in great shape and McGregor gave him problems in there. If I came in and saw him sparring and never knew who McGregor was, I would think he was a high-level professional boxer, not a mixed martial artist or a novice boxer. I thought this guy can fight and box…The one thing that I was very impressed with when I saw him spar was his athleticism, his elusiveness and the way he comes back with that counter left hand. Even when not in training camp and at full fitness, he still has that potent weapon.