Joe Cortez: McGregor learned boxing rules well
Joe Cortez: “The boxing fans will say, Mayweather should win, but you know what I say? Anyone who has a punch, has a puncher’s chance.”
Conor McGregor could effortlessly knock out Floyd Mayweather on Saturday night. He could shoot a double and throw him on his head, or secure a Plumm and smash his face. But if you get disqualified in boxing, you don’t get your purse. And contractually, his cut of the PPV would be hugely reduced. And Mayweather’s camp has promised to sue.
So McGregor has to obey the rules, in a sport he has never done, while getting punched. That takes some learning, and Hall of Fame boxing referee Joe Cortez was brought in to run McGregor’s sparring sessions, and familiarize him with the nuances of “half a fight.”
Cortez spoke recently with The Mac Life about the process.
Working with Conor was a great experience,” said Cortez, as transcribed by Jed Meshew for MMA Fighting. “Because here I’m breaking in a fighter who’s an MMA fighter and I have to teach him the rules of boxing. I was pleasantly surprised to see what a great student he is. He pays close attention to everything I tell him, everything in detail, because I want him to do everything correct for the fight Saturday night.
So far, every session that we’ve had has been getting better and better and better. So I’m very pleased with his performance.
[Conor] knows the kind of referee that I’ve been throughout the years. I’ve refereed close to 200 world championship fights, so I think he pays a lot more attention and I speak to him with a lot more details in what can go wrong if he doesn’t comply by the rules. So I think he’s very pleased, just as I am. Like I said, every session he gets better, he wants to learn more, he keeps asking me questions, and I tell him exactly what’s gotta be done.
I think everything is gonna be just fine come Saturday night.
The question on everyone’s mind is, does Conor McGregor have a chance? The wise old referee didn’t directly reply.
The boxing community has taken a lot of interest in this fight because they’ve never seen anything like that,” said Cortez. “Conor has been showing that he has the confidence in himself, he definitely has the skills as far as MMA is concerned, he has the strength, he can punch. . . The boxing fans will say, Mayweather should win, but you know what I say? Anyone who has a punch, has a puncher’s chance.
