I think I'd give McGregor a chance against Ishe Smith. Smith is an old guy with no power and low punch output. Like a worse Floyd.
Floyd was clearly carrying McGregor. He let McGregor get away with making a lot of mistakes that he wouldn’t let another boxer get away with. McGregor’s chin was wide open for counters the whole fight and Floyd barely threw any punches. McGregor with his star power could make big money doing exhibitions with retired stars from other sports that fans still want to see. However, him jumping in the ring with hungry boxers at 154 or 160 would only end in McGregor getting knocked out.
Floyd wouldn't carry a bag of groceries let alone Conor. Take a look at the Tenshin exhibition for an example. Don't think for a moment he wouldn't have done the same to Conor if he had the opportunity.
Don't think for a moment that if UFC and Dana wasn't involved that fight wouldn't have lasted over a round!! Can you imagine what that would have done to UFC a bigger guy getting smoked in a round,, It would have killed there brand,, Floyd did carry Conor thats a fact!
Since the expectation was that Floyd would easily destroy Conor in a boxing match it wouldn't have detrimentally affected the UFC image or brand.It's ridiculous to assume Floyd allowed Conor to bounce uppercuts off his chin for the sake of UFC.
The body punch that Conor landed late in the fight certainly got Floyd's attention. In fact I seem to recall the referee intervening on Floyd's behalf to give him a chance to recover.
Floyd fought McGreggor the way he would fight some bum from the street, just walked him down....and he hasn't walked anyone down since he fought at lightweight. If he fought the way he normally does using his legs and pot shot from outside it would have been Floyd winning every round before blasting out McGregor. With that said McGreggor wouldn't even beat Paulie, Provodnikov in his current state would destroy him in 3 rounds.
