Richard Perez compares Conor McGregor and Nate Diaz’s chances against Floyd Mayweather

On August 26, UFC lightweight champion Conor McGregor will step into the boxing ring with undefeated boxing legend Floyd Mayweather Jr. In the buildup to this fight, many members of the combat sports community have offered insights, expectations and predictions for it. One of the latest to do so is Richard Perez, who serves as the boxing coach for Nick and Nate Diaz – the latter of whom stands out as McGregor’s fiercest rival.

Perez discussed this upcoming boxing match on the latest edition of BJ Penn Radio. In his opinion, McGregor has a few dangerous weapons at his disposal, but they probably won’t be enough.

“It could be a freak show,” he said. “The thing is, McGregor doesn’t really have any experience in boxing. He’s ok, he just has no defense. He has no defense at all. He has a good left hand, and he throws a bit of combinations out there, but Mayweather’s a professional fighter. He’s 49-0, that speaks for itself. McGregor is 0-0.”

Richard Perez then discussed how his student, Nate Diaz, might do if he were the one fighting Mayweather in the boxing ring.

“If they were to have [given this fight to] Nathan, I’d be right there saying ‘ok do it,’ but Nathan can really box,” Perez explained. “When he goes to the gym, when he trains, I work him and he boxes good. He broke a record throwing the most strikes in the UFC. That says a lot.”

“McGregor doesn’t throw a lot, to break a record like that, so he’s going to be in trouble with Mayweather if he can’t catch Mayweather with that left hand. But he’s wearing 8-ounce gloves, which is better for McGregor, cause he’s got power in that left hand, but I don’t know if he’s going to put him away. I doubt it.”

How do you think Conor McGregor will do against Floyd Mayweather? Do you think Nate Diaz would do better?

This article first appeared on BJPenn.com on 8/17/2017.