Conor McGregor’s sparring footage gained a massive audience when a clip of him knocking down Paulie Malignaggi went viral recently. The footage was released by UFC President Dana White and the move instantly caused a backlash from the boxing community.
The McGregor fans were pleased with what they saw, a lot of boxers weren’t really impressed. One of them is Tony Bellew.
The WBC Emeritus champion explained why people should calm down and forget about the sparring footage.
“Anyone who knows anything about boxing would not even consider taking a five second clip from a twelve round spar to mean absolutely anything. If you really understand boxing, then you know that sparring doesn’t really mean a thing,” said Bellew in an interview with IFL.tv.
The Liverpudlian admitted that there have been cases where he’s been on the losing side during sparring against lower level competition.
“I’ve been beat up by guys who have never been able to win a British title. I’ve had guys who have just about survived in area title level get the better of me in sparring. Some days are good, some days are bad. Some days you have to suck it up and just be a punching bag for these guys. And it’s even worse when you come in and you’re a name,” told Bellew.
At the end of the day, it’s what happens inside the ring that counts no matter what.
“Nothing matters until you get under the lights. Sparring is exactly what it is, it’s sparring. No body cares about the build up, they only care about the final result. Conor McGregor could knock out twenty guys in the gym but if he gets blitzed within four rounds, that’s gonna mean absolutely nothing what went on in that gym. The gym will mean absolutely nothing. It all comes down to what happens on fight night,” he said.
Bellew also gave his opinion on McGregor’s unorthodox ring movement and the Irishman’s open-workout session.
“I’ve seen the funny arm movement that he’s doing and stuff like that. He’s got a fantastic range of movement, I’ll give him that. He’s a fantastic athlete. An amazing athlete, he really is. Works very hard. He’s the best self promoter,” said ‘The Bomber’.
That being said, Bellew is predicting an easy Floyd Mayweather victory. When asked about the competitiveness of fight itself, Bellew responded with a straightforward answer.
“It will be as competitive as Floyd wants it to be,” commented Bellew.
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