Michael Conlan was the first man to bring Conor McGregor into a professional boxing ring, although under very different circumstances
McGregor walked his Irish compatriot to the ring in his first professional fight in March.
Having heard the jeers from the boxing community first hand in relation to McGregor’s perceived shortages in skill, Conlan believes that the UFC lightweight champion shouldn’t be written off just yet:
“I wouldn’t mock him on that,” Conlan told Ariel Helwani on Wednesday’s edition of The MMA Hour from Las Vegas. “We’ll see come fight night how he’s going to perform.
“Logic says that Floyd Mayweather is going to win, but it’s a different animal. Conor McGregor is a different animal. He’s defied logic so many times, like against Aldo – against everybody he’s fought.
“He’s become the double champ. If he says something he usually does it.”
In order for McGregor to realistically have a chance at beating Mayweather, he will need to do it quickly, according to Conlan:
“I feel he needs to put it on Floyd early,” Conlan said. “I don’t think he should try to outbox Floyd. I think he should get in there and rough him and work his ass off and try to land that big left hand on him. He needs to land clean. Floyd is the master of defense, but at the same time, Conor is very sharp, very strong and very powerful.
“Who knows? If he catches him clean he could get him and it could be lights out. I do hope so, I hope Conor goes in here and wins.”
Conlan also had words of encouragement for McGregor ahead of the bout on Saturday:
“Just go in there, believe in yourself. Do what you do best, upset the odds. … Upset the applecart and get that victory for Ireland.”
