Conor McGregor insists Floyd Mayweather has skills that would transfer to MMA after declaring his rival a conclusive winner of their Las Vegas clash.
McGregor's boxing debut ended in a 10th-round stoppage at the T-Mobile Arena as Mayweather entered retirement having extended his unblemished career record to 50 victories.
It was a competitive fight for the opening rounds, but UFC superstar McGregor was gracious as he reflected on Mayweather's class.
"Congrats to Floyd on a well fought match. Very experienced and methodical in his work," McGregor said on Instagram.
"I wish him well in retirement. He is a heck of a boxer. His experience, his patience and his endurance won him this fight hands down.
"I always told him he was not a fighter but a boxer. But sharing the ring with him he is certainly a solid fighter.
"Strong in the clinch. Great understanding of frames and head position. He has some very strong tools he could bring into an MMA game for sure."
McGregor, who is accustomed to fighting five five-minute rounds in UFC, began tiring midway through potentially the richest fight in history and the contest ended with Mayweather landing at will.
The Irishman, however, refused to blame his preparation for his lack of boxing conditioning.
"I had an amazing team and It truly was an amazing and enjoyable camp, and honestly I feel with just a little change in certain areas of the prep, we could have built the engine for 12 full rounds under stress, and got the better result on the night," he said.
"Getting to 12 rounds alone in practice was always the challenge in this camp.
"We started slowly getting to the 12 and decreasing the stress in the rounds the closer it got to 12.
"I think for the time we had, 10 weeks in camp, it had to be done this way.
"If I began with a loaded 12 rounds under much stress I would have only hit a brick wall and lost progress as a result and potentially not made the fight.
"A little more time and we could have made the 12 cleanly, while under more stress, and made it thru the later rounds in the actual fight.
"I feel every decision we made at each given time was the correct decision, and I am proud of everyone of my team for what we done in the short time that we done it. 30 minutes was the longest I have fought in a ring or cage or anywhere. Surpassing my previous time of 25 minutes.
"I am happy for the experience and happy to take all these great lessons with me and implement them into my camp going forward. Another day another lesson!"
Source: PA
