With the world of combat sports bracing itself for a seemingly inevitable fight between all-time great boxer Floyd Mayweather and UFC lightweight champion Conor McGregor, painstaking debates between fans of both crafts as to the quality of striking in MMA are commonplace.
Irish boxing journalist Kevin Byrne recently reported that Mayweather is set to announce the matchup when he visits the UK later this month; 'Money' will be in town to back his IBF World super-featherweight title Gervonta Davis, who defends his belt against England's Liam Walsh on May 20th.
A potential Mayweather-McGregor boxing match is naturally divisive for a number of reasons, not least amongst practitioners of both boxing and MMA. The odd hype-believer aside, most from both sports see the fight as a total formality but, like fans, understand the magnitude of the event and its ability to generate upwards of half a billion dollars.
Still, there remains a minority who - for one reason or another - believe McGregor, a former Novice boxer who achieved little to nothing in Ireland's amateur ranks, can upset a 15-time, 5-division world champion (and 4-time lineal champion) who has won all 49 of his professional contests.
UFC light-heavyweight champion and pound-for-pound no.3 Daniel Cormier is not one of these people.
Asked by a fan to give an honest assessment of how he'd fare in a boxing match versus heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua, who last weekend destroyed Wladimir Klitschko, Cormier's response was refreshingly honest:
@dc_mma how do you think you'd do against someone like Anthony Joshua? Boxing not mma!! Honestly though
— Akbar Momand (@akb4rmomand) May 7, 2017
I would get knocked out so fast!!! All of us would in a BOXING match. We CANT outbox these dudes in straight boxing matches man. https://t.co/Zk8aJx0aPx
— Daniel Cormier (@dc_mma) May 7, 2017
Cormier was praised for the brutal honesty of his assessment, and went on to make the obligatory (and highly accurate) point that, were a boxer to fight a mixed martial artist in the octagon with little to no extensive training, they too would get annihilated.
Yes they would get mauled. Conor fights Floyd mma. Floyd doesn't last 3 minutes https://t.co/YTunXsBujC
— Daniel Cormier (@dc_mma) May 7, 2017
Curiosity will ultimately get the better of the baying public, who'll doubtless shell out for a Mayweather-McGregor fight if or when it does take place.
But when that time comes, just remember that Daniel Cormier warned you.
