Floyd Mayweather plans to come out firing against Conor McGregor, assistant trainer says

Are we about to see a different Floyd Mayweather in his 50th fight? Maybe.

Assistant trainer Nate Jones on Thursday told the Los Angeles Times the game plan is for Mayweather to come out fast and furious for his boxing showdown with Conor McGregor.

“We’re going to fight him,” Jones said. “… We know this is something new for him. So, Floyd’s going to turn the gas on early. We’re going to fight him. We don’t think he can go past four rounds. So we’ll burn the gas out of him (early), make it a tough fight for him, let him see some things he’s never … hit him with some good body shots.

“I don’t want to give the whole game plan, but we got some things different.”

McGregor (21-3 MMA, 9-1 UFC) and Mayweather (49-0 boxing) face off on Aug. 26 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas in a pay-per-view event expected to be the most lucrative prize fight of all time.

If the plan, indeed, is for Mayweather to take the fight to the UFC lightweight champion in the early going, it would be a major change from his patented style of defensive genius and picking apart his opponents with counter-punches.

Mayweather will be fighting for the first time since retiring after his Sept. 2015 win over Andre Berto and hasn’t knocked out an opponent in seven fights. Mayweather’s last win by KO came in 2011 in a controversial finish over Victor Ortiz.

Jones expects everything about McGregor’s first professional boxing experience to overwhelm him and is counting on that being the key to Mayweather getting the early stoppage.

“His head movement is going to confuse McGregor,” Jones said. “His relaxation is going to confuse him. Making him fight at a high rate early is going to surprise him. We’re not going to box him; we’re going to fight him.

“We know we’re going to get his tank blown early. We’re going to let him see things, show him all that stuff early. Let him see wht he’s been dealing with, make him more confused. Because he’s new to this, and he ain’t ready for this.”

For more on “The Money Fight: Floyd Mayweather vs. Conor McGregor,” check out the MMA Rumors section of the site.