Conor McGregor has opened the floodgates for UFC fighters to challenge the top boxers in crossover fights.
‘The Notorious’ is currently in negotiations for a boxing megafight against pound-for-pound great Floyd Mayweather Jr., and a couple of other UFC hopefuls have stated their desire to fight the top boxers in their weight class.
No. 3 ranked light heavyweight Jimi Manuwa has called for a showdown with British boxer David Haye, and heavyweight champion Stipe Miocic thinks he has what it takes to give current heavyweight boxing champion Anthony Joshua a run for his money.
UFC light heavyweight champ Daniel Cormier, however, thinks it would be a bad idea for all fighters involved. ‘DC’ says McGregor, Manuwa and Miocic will probably get ‘slept’ against any legitimate boxer.
Cormier says the UFC embarrassed James Toney against Randy Couture and thinks boxing promoters will do the same against any MMA fighter making the switch to boxing.
“Look, James Toney fought in the UFC and got beat,” Cormier said on a recent edition of UFC Tonight, per Damon Martin of FOX Sports.” “We had no problem showing that footage over and over again of James Toney getting beat by Randy Couture. These boxing promoters will constantly show video of the heavyweight champion of the world Stipe Miocic getting slept by Anthony Joshua or Jimi Manuwa. Come on, Jimi, getting slept by David Haye.”
“These dudes will get slept, and it’s going to be embarrassing.”
The American Kickboxing Academy product understands McGregor’s motivations – money – but says Manuwa and Miocic will not make anywhere near as much as the Irishman.
“[McGregor] can actually go and fight [Floyd] Mayweather and I’ve said it time and time again on this show, he will lose. The rest of these guys, they will get no money and they will also get slept.”
“So no, it is not good for the UFC. Conor, hats off to you, make your money but don’t get slept, which might happen to him.”
While it’s unlikely that Manuwa or Miocic will ever throw down against Haye or Joshua, there’s a very real possibility of McGregor vs. Mayweather. The bout was originally targeted for September but has reportedly been pushed back to a later date due to the announcement of Gennady Golovkin vs. Canelo Alvarez.
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