One of the top pound-for-pound boxers today in Andre Ward broke down Saturday night’s Floyd Mayweather Jr. vs Conor McGregor boxing match. He says he found it entertaining, and that the UFC champion impressed him with his debut fight in the sport.
“I expected a lot less from McGregor, and I expected a little bit more from Floyd Mayweather,” Ward said.
Following the fight, the 40-year-old Mayweather reconfirmed his intention to retire, and Ward says it’s the correct decision to make.
“I think Floyd showed his age a little bit. He’s still got a lot left in the tank, but when you start seeing yourself getting hit with punches you typically won’t get hit with — especially against a guy with no experience — and you’re not offensively getting off and throwing like you should be, it’s time to hang it up.
“It’s not that you don’t have it, but you want to leave before you don’t have it anymore.”
As for the actual contest, Ward says he was puzzled by Mayweather’s willingness to give his back and wait for the referee to break up the contest instead of actually defending himself.
“I didn’t understand Floyd giving McGregor his back. That’s something that personally, I don’t do, and we are taught not to do,” he said. “You’ve got to protect yourself at all times. If for some reason, McGregor lost his cool and hit Floyd with a meaningful punch behind the head, Floyd can be really really hurt. So I don’t understand that. I think McGregor showed a lot of restraint even those we saw a few hammer punches. We’ll take that from a guy doing this pretty much all his life.”
Watch the entire segment on the clip above.
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