“This will be the first boxing match that I’ve worked on,” Hardy said.
“Obviously I’ve worked a lot with boxers in the past. I’ve trained alongside boxers because back in the day with mixed martial arts, they were the only real combat athletes around me that knew what they were doing.
“All of the other martial artists were making it up as they go along, so I feel in love with boxing from a young age. I grew up watching the likes of Nigel Benn and Chris Eubank and I have trained alongside the likes of Carl Froch.
“I know what it takes to get into the boxing ring and I know how difficult it is to become supremely skilled in such a narrow skillset like that because I’ve been in there with boxers and I’ve been pushed around.
“As soon as it becomes a mixed martial arts fight, (boxers) become interested. There have been questions that have come from (boxers) in the past that will prepare me for this, I think.
“I understand the boxing mentality and I understand what they’re going to be looking at as far as Conor McGregor as a new addition to the sport.”
Another former MMA fighter,
Brendan Schaub, was a part of Showtime’s panel for the Mayweather vs. McGregor press tour and received ample criticism for some of his takes on the highly polarizing boxing bout.
Hardy agreed that a lot of Schaub’s analysis was “hot air”, and hopes he can bring more knowledge and intellect to the table in his role.
“As much as like Brendan Schaub, I’ll admit that I thought a lot of the stuff he was saying was hot air. There were a lot of superlatives and celebration. There was not a great deal of substance to his analysis.
“He didn’t tell me where Conor should put his feet, where he should hold his hands, what we should be looking out for, what Floyd is going to be looking to do against a southpaw that fights outside of his normal range… there wasn’t really any analysis. It was more yelling over each other.
“What I’m hoping to bring to the table is some knowledge and some intellect.”
