UFC-legenden Randy Couture har en del erfarenhet av stora fighter och uppladdningen inför dessa. Couture var mannen som besegrade boxningsgiganten James Toney i dennes enda MMA-match. Den forne UFC-mästaren medverkade nyligen i The Herd with Colin Cowherd där han tyckte att den läkta sparringvideon med Paulie Malignaggi och Conor McGregor verkar som ett typiskt publicitetstrick inför en upphaussad superfight.
I sparringvideon såg man hur boxningsveteraren Paulie Malignaggi föll till marken, och det har debatterats om UFC-mästaren McGregor i videon lyckades slå ner sin motståndare eller om denne endast snubblade eller blev knuffad till marken. Couture menar dock att Malignaggi mest var inhyrd för att skapa publicitet inför irländarens match och att hans roll som sparringpartner var sekundär:
I definitely see two guys sparring. [But] I’m kind of questioning why there’s an official referee in his uniform there. That’s not a usual thing for a sparring workout. . . [The job of a sparring partner] is to give you a look, to present what your opponent may bring to this fight and to try to mimic that as much as you can.
You’re not there to fight, you’re not there prove you can beat this guy or you can compete with this guy. That’s not what it’s about. You’re volunteering or being paid to give this guy a look, give him rounds, give him solid work, and mimic the guy he’s fighting.
This reeks of a publicity stunt to me. Normally, you don’t have an official referee there, presiding over a sparring match. normally, you’d have two or three other partners there that would rotate in on rounds and give each other breaks because it’s tough being that guy. You know when you’re there you’re there to contribute, to help this guy find solutions to the problems his opponent is gonna bring.
När det kommer till McGregors riktiga fight, den stundande boxningsmatchen med Floyd Mayweather den 26:e augusti, så anser inte den forne tungviktsmästaren Couture att irländaren har några större chanser att segra.
I give Conor a one in ten chance of winning this fight. He’s unorthodox, he’s a southpaw, he’s not gonna throw things that Floyd’s used to seeing, he’s younger, and he’s a little bigger. Those are all positives for Conor but at the end of the day he’s still competing in a pure boxing match against one of the pound-for-pound best technical, best defensive fighters that we’ve seen in a long, long time.
