After his performance on Saturday night against Floyd Mayweather Jr., many are not expecting Conor McGregor to compete in boxing again. UFC president Dana White is advising against it, while Floyd Mayweather Sr. believes the UFC lightweight champion will “get killed” if he steps inside the boxing ring again in the future.
Mayweather Promotions CEO Leonard Ellerbe, however, believes otherwise. From his perspective, “The Notorious” was able to prove that boxing could also be a combat sport to achieve some success in.
“I was actually very surprised with his ability to do certain things,” Ellerbe during the post-fight press conference (via MMA Fighting). “He definitely has, if he chooses to — he definitely has a future in boxing, if he chooses to. To be able to last as long as he did, he’s a very tough competitor. He has a big heart, and again, he showed a lot, especially with this being his professional debut. I think that he did the UFC proud, he did his country proud, and he should definitely keep his head up high.”
“He’s tough as nails. He wasn’t going to lay down. He has a big heart and I understand why he’s the biggest star in the UFC, and one of the biggest stars in all of sports.”
The crowd in attendance for the fight was reported to be at 14,623, which was 6,000 shy of the audience for the Canelo Alvarez vs. Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. fight in the same arena in May. It may not have been a sell-out, but everyone involved in its making was expected to take home a fat paycheck, to say the least.
Yet, despite the monetary success from their end, Ellerbe says Mayweather vs. McGregor would probably be the last time they would be doing a boxing vs. MMA billing.
“We’re not looking to fight any other UFC fighters,” Ellerbe confirmed. “It was a great promotion, I really enjoyed working with Dana and his team, very professional group. They’ve had a tremendous amount of success and I truly understand why. He’s got a great team and they have a great, well-oiled machine, and again it was a great joy to be able to work with them on this promotion.”
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