"Going back to even before the fight, it seemed that it was never in doubt in Mayweather's mind, like he barely warmed-up."
That was former world champion Andy Lee's take on Floyd Mayweather's 10th round victory over Conor McGregor in what is the most lucrative fight of all time in Las Vegas.
Tonight, The Telegraph boxing and MMA writer Gareth A Davies joined us on Off The Ball and he feels McGregor does deserve credit despite the inevitability of the result.
You can listen to the full interview on the podcast player below or iTunes:
"Conor came out with huge credit in this fight but as we see, MMA striking and boxing striking is very different. Boxers strike with pinpoint accuracy in very small areas that they're targeting and it's different in MMA because you can open someone up with feints and punches and then use a knee and Conor's a brilliant karate guy as well and he only had three quarters of his armoury available to him," he said, adding that Mayweather also credited McGregor's efforts.
Boxer Floyd Mayweather jr stops UFC fighter Conor McGregor in the 10th round of their super welterweight boxing match on August 26, 2017 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada (Credit Image: � Marcel Thomas via ZUMA Wire)
And on McGregor's running out of steam as the fight wore on, Davies contrasted the different conditioning demands required in boxing and mixed-martial arts.
"It's a very different cardiovascular system. Conor had tried his utmost to try and get into the type of shape that boxers need to be in," he explained.
"Conor was nearly 20 pounds heavier and carrying that extra weight would have taken it out of him during the fight as well."
But what's next for McGregor? Davies discussed what his MMA future will look like in the immediate future.
"Dana White has pointed out that there is no question at all that Conor will go back to the UFC and they'll make it worth his while," said Davies, adding that he will "double or treble" previous earning power now.
"He's going to be a huge earner now in MMA and he's going back in as an even bigger hero because he took this great boxer 10 rounds, stepping into this different combat stratosphere. There's a massive fight for him in Russia where the UFC want to go against Khabib Nurmagomedov, one of the main challengers for the UFC lightweight title. There's [Kevin] Lee and Tony Ferguson to fight for the interim title. That's coming up soon. They're great challenges for him. It's shark infested waters in that UFC lightweight division."
Davies spoke to Triple H last year and explained that WWE is even an option for McGregor with interest from the wrestling fraternity, as well as another boxing match. And he raised another possibility.
"It wouldn't surprise if we see McGregor Promotions putting on some events in Ireland at some point because, you know what, he's such a huge star at the moment, he could put his whole team on the undercard and I think he could fill out Croke Park," he said.
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