Former boxing champ believes Conor McGregor’s MMA match is revolutionizing both sports

While some believe this much-anticipated boxing match between Conor McGregor and Floyd Mayweather is bad for boxing, Carl Frampton doesn’t share the same belief. The former two-division world titleholder is a McGregor fan and is excited about the big match.

According to ESPN’s Nick Parkinson, Frampton, 30, believes McGregor, the UFC’s lightweight champion, is revolutionizing boxing and mixed martial arts. Even though McGregor never boxed professionally, Frampton is excited about the fight. He said he will travel to the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas to watch the fight on Aug. 26.

“I think Conor’s brilliant,” Frampton said. “He’s a showman, he’s mental and he’s a maniac. I really like him and I’m going out to watch it with some of the others [fighters] from our gym, like Josh Taylor, Conrad Cummings, and our wives. We’re going out for a mad weekend.”

Frampton has a match of his own this weekend, as he’ll go head-to-head with Andres Gutierrez at the SSE Arena on Saturday, July 29. If Frampton wins, he puts himself much closer to having a match with Lee Selby for the IBF featherweight championship.

Frampton believes McGregor, 29, will be at a disadvantage in this bout against Mayweather, but he tipped his hat to the Ireland fighter for creating his debut boxing match and earning $100 million for it.

Frampton doesn’t want to state his prediction for the Mayweather-McGregor fight, but he said it’s hard to look past Mayweather, who is 40 years old and has a 49-0 boxing record.

“Boxing and MMA are two different sports, so if I’m being honest, if Conor lands a glove on Mayweather he will be doing very well,” Frampton said.

However, Frampton pointed out that Mayweather made fighters like Manny Pacquiao and Canelo Alvarez “look ordinary.” So, he questions how McGregor will handle that.