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Usually when fight fans see legendary cutman Jacob “Stitch” Duran the photo above is pretty much indicative of how they get to see the man. Though some of you may have caught him in the movie Rocky Balboa where he played the cutman for Rocky’s opponent, Mason “The Line” Dixon, or again in the most recent Rocky movie Creed. He was the guy who tapped the answer on Creed’s neck when the ringside doctor asked him how many fingers is he was holding up. But I digress.
Fight fans also rarely get to hear Duran speak, which is why this new interview by Ariel Helwani of MMA Fighting is so interesting.
Duran was hanging out a Floyd Mayweather’s media workout when Helwani caught up to him and they discussed a wide range of topics including why he isn’t working the fight (watch for the subtle admission), whether the Mayweather vs. McGregor circus/fight is good for the sport, whether Conor McGregor really stands a chance of winning, and what he thinks of McGregor in general.
When asked if he was going to be attending the fight Duran pretty much echoed everyone’s sentiments, “Nobody with my kind of stature when it comes to economics is going to attend that type of fight, it’s just too expensive.”
Duran also said that if Mayweather wins the fight and goes to 50 and 0 the 50th win will “have an asterisk” since he beat a guy who was 0-0 to get it.
As for McGregor, “Stitch” called him “the biggest thief in combat sports.” However, he meant it as a compliment, saying, “I gotta give Conor credit for being the biggest thief in combat sports because man, he stole everybody’s heart and you know, what he did, is phenomenal. And I don’t think anybody is ever going to be able to do that again.”
He may be right there. Check out the rest of the interview below, especially for Duran’s take on McGregor’s chances and how he sees the fight potentially playing out.