Alvarez’s striking coach: McGregor could beat Mayweather in boxing

Eddie Alvarez lost his lightweight belt to featherweight champion Conor McGregor on Saturday night at UFC 205. Notorious then became the first fighter to hold two UFC belts at the same time.

McGregor said he will take some time off for the birth of his first child in May, and wants an equity position before he fights again. And it is rumored that the next fight he wants is a boxing match with Floyd Mayweather Jr, the greatest boxer of his generation.

There is no question in anyone’s mind that Mayweather’s odds of beating McGregor in MMA are as close to a sure bet as exists in combat sports, on the order of a female UFC champion beating a larger male UFC champion.

And there is little question in anyone’s mind that McGregor is not going to be the only person in history to give Mayweather a professional loss in the ring, after 20 years. Or is there?

Eddie Alvarez’s striking coach Mark Henry appeared recently on The Luke Thomas Show and told RJ Clifford that he thinks McGregor could do it.

“You cannot teach somebody how to swing like that,” said Henry, as transcribed by Jed Meshew for MMA Fighting. “It takes hips, it takes a certain shoulder, it takes a flick of the wrist, there are so many tiny mechanics. What it takes to make an eyeball work is what it takes to make the perfect swing. Like Babe Ruth. I just compare Conor – his swing – to Babe Ruth. I always watch tape of it but to be that close and watch it was a whole other thing.

“It comes along once in a lifetime or once every hundred years or what not. I think God has just blessed him with a swing that I’ll probably never see again. Before this fight, I would highly doubt him fighting Mayweather, but I think this dude can take out Mayweather. I’m not even joking.”

“I don’t know if it went [long] but I could easily see him knocking anybody out. Like I said, it’s like a Babe Ruth swing. There’s so many little things that you need to make it work, like even if you lean a little forward too much or you don’t turn your hips at the exact time. Also too, his range. He knows his range so well. A punch could be an inch – less than that – seven centimeters from his face and he won’t pull his head back at times because he knows it’s not gonna hit. So a lot of times he’ll slide back his head and counter, but if you don’t slide back your head, the punch comes even faster and there’s time he won’t even slip back his head because he knows it’s not gonna hit him.

“And not even that, to go farther. Like that last four-punch combination he threw on Eddie, to know where his head is gonna be on all four moves. He just knows way ahead of time where you’re gonna be. So many different things go into what he’s doing. His eyes are so focused to just know where somebody’s head is gonna be or tricking somebody where their head is gonna be, setting it up with your feet. What he does is just incredible.”

“Mayweather’s so good with his defense but Conor’s so dang precise. Eddie is such an incredible athlete and Eddie is such a veteran and Eddie’s resume – he’s fought and beat all world champions. Eddie’s incredible. But it’s just so many different things. How precise he is, the power that he has…Just his pure swing. When you see it up close it’s even more impressive. “