Floyd Mayweather Sr. has had his say on Ronda Rousey’s loss to Holly Holm at UFC 193, insisting the result would be the same should the pair meet again and Rowdy will become a “better person” because of her loss.
Mayweather’s son, Floyd Jr., had been at loggerheads with Rousey prior to her first-ever loss, with some fanciful talk surfacing about a potential ruleless fight between the pair, per Reddit (Warning: NSFW language). The boxing trainer claimed his son would have easily beaten Rousey, per On The Ropes (h/t Edward Chaykovsky of BoxingScene.com):
"You know her yourself and if she would have fought Floyd, she would have never put a hand or foot on Floyd because that’s the way that lady did it. It was so easy for her, she proved her point," he said.
Mayweather Sr. also predicted more of the same if Rousey and Holm meet again:
"I don’t think that Ronda can whoop that girl. I think after everything she’s gonna be a better person and I think she’s gonna learn how to address people better than how she does today."
It’ll be intriguing to see just how Rousey recovers from this devastating loss. Many thought her robust fighting style would never see her beaten inside the Octagon, but Holm ruthlessly exposed her flaws and knocked her opponent out in spectacular fashion.
The conduct Rousey indulged in prior to the fight left many bemused too. On the eve of the bout she posted an ill-tempered message aimed at Holm on social media. Then, immediately before the fight, she denied the opportunity to touch gloves with her opponent, as is a customary sign of respect.
As noted by Chamatkar Sandhu of MMA Junkie, by contrast, Holm conducted herself pretty well before and especially after the fight:
Considering the weigh ins and Rousey refusing to touch gloves at the start of the fight this was pure class by Holm. pic.twitter.com/zPZOY1vhST
— Chamatkar Sandhu (@SandhuMMA) November 15, 2015
After Rousey was knocked out, social media was awash with posters claiming Mayweather Jr., a now retired, undefeated boxer, would have been able to beat the MMA star in similar fashion. Mayweather Sr. insisted that his son “wouldn’t fight with a woman anyways,” but he did have some advice for the former champion.
“She has to get up and put her stuff on and keep moving,” said the coach. “That’s what she’s got to do.”
Indeed, Mayweather Jr., despite his previous war of words with Rousey, even reached out to the UFC star in the wake of her first loss, offering to help her refine the boxing skills that were lacking in the defeat at UFC 193, per Ben Thompson of FightHype.com.
As we can see here, Mayweather Jr. is already on pretty good terms with Holm after she branded him as the “greatest of all time” in an interview with TMZ:
I want to thank @hollyholm for the kind words. Congrats on your success. Please follow @hollyholm and read this https://t.co/9v2ctLWXQE
— Floyd Mayweather (@FloydMayweather) November 23, 2015
A rematch would definitely make for intriguing viewing, with Rousey sure to adopt different tactics to the upright approach she deployed against Holm at UFC 193. Mentally, the edge would have to go with the champion after the manner of her previous win, but if Rousey was able to execute her ground game more clinically, she’d be difficult to beat.
