Assuming you think he came in expecting to win, then that was an utterly stupid plan on his part. If you're at all serious about winning, you don't go in on your first professional boxing match planning on sealing an early TKO/KO against a 20-year undefeated defensive genius of a boxing champion. Part of me is convinced he deliberately played his own fans by responding to their T/KO pipedreams by training for and claiming that as his winning strategy. And after he lost it'll be very easy to claim that was his strategy all along - what will be harder is for some of those previously ride-or-die fans to stick to and admit the real hopes they had for him actually managing to win.
What planet do you exist on? Really?
Conor is a great MMA fighter. He started with boxing back in the day apparently then went OOO MMA WRECKSHIT like most prudent combative individuals... and when Mayweather talked some twittershit or whatever, he saw future dollar signs regardless, which is GREAT given that he's BEEN a poor ass motherfucker. Flat out welfare riding and now he's boss tier bankroll.
There's NO fucking way that if you're effectively an amateur, know and accept that you're an amateur in THAT type of sport, that you aren't going to realize and attempt to capitalize on your strong points while also specifically working towards an early termination of the fight... which was that left. It came into play a couple times but all said and done he didn't put that shit on repeat with some wikiwiki scratching on the turntable, instead he let it be a random kick drum and that wasn't enough to last past the dubstep drop of the round 6 bell.
It's not a stupid plan. It's the ONLY FUCKING INTELLIGENT PLAN THERE IS! I mean, let's see what the options truly are in a boxing match:
A: Knock the opponent out, win
B: Go 12 rounds toe to toe, chance a coin flip at the end of the match
C: Go >9 rounds, get wore the fuck out and TKO'ed due to being ballsmoked and beat up (Which we saw)
D: Get KTFO (not a planned nor preferred option)
The only way to avoid B, C, and even D is to execute A more quickly than the other guy. Period. There is NO OTHER OPTION. In a competition scenario, even moreso than in a flat out direct combat hand to hand scenario like some here have been in, the only guaranteed way to win is to dirt nap the opponent, or as close to a dirt nap as the rules allow you to execute. With as defensively talented as Mayweather is, you aren't going to be able to keep up the intensity (especially when you're in a longer than your life fight duration) to not only throw, but get scorable hits, on a dude that can run and dance like Mayweather. Flat out not happening. Your only shot avoiding a decision with boxing judges and you ain't a boxer.. or just getting worn down like your granddads old oversharpened buck knife turned fillet blade, is to land bombs quick so you turn your opponent out like a truckstop lot lizard.
I was rooting for Conor solely out of underdog love. KICK HIS ASS SEABASS! I really pretty much hate boxing because there's way too much cuddlehugging that happens in the vast majority of matches (See: All fights on this card prior to the main event) and you just don't see that as a general rule in MMA. I also chuckled my ass off when I saw some MMA reflexes coming out of Conor in the ring... hammerfists and gaining the back and wailing from there.... Woulda been cool if he won the match, but at least he won in the wallet and also still really didn't look much worse for wear in the interviews... I actually wish the ref had let it go since he was game for letting the fight actually get finished, but I also support the ref because he wasn't really even defending himself well let alone having any replies for what kinda shit was flying his way for the last 30+ seconds of the match.
Also, see
above.
