If Floyd could've finished Conor in R1, he would've. Floyd himself said he and Sr. planned to take Conor out late after 25 minutes of fighting but had to wait until the 10th round.
there is a lot of gray area here. let me try to be more specific than "carry".
1. Conor did what a lot of us thought he wouldn't do; he landed an uppercut in the first round.
2. and didn't phase Floyd. a lot of that has to do with stance; Conor was so focused on keeping a traditional "boxing stance" and getting back into a boxing defensive position that he lost a lot of his power we got used to seeing in the cage. because he was thinking too much, and forcing his body to do actions that didn't come natural. his punches were arm punches.
3. Floyd was never in trouble. even when he ate the uppercut.
4. Floyd didn't try offense for the first 10 minutes.
5. it took Floyd longer to TKO Conor than Floyd thought. from the 5th on Conor was putty in his hands, but Conor kept eating his punches.
unfortunately, most of these nuances get lost when people simply defend or attack the word "carry".
fans of this circus all feel pride that Conor landed an uppercut and lasted almost 30 minutes, my points #1 & #5. that's fine. but they should also acknowledge the other points #'s 2-4.
and of course, vice verse. Conor detractors should acknowledge that - although Floyd was never in danger - finishing the fight was harder than Floyd expected it to be.
TLDR: Conor did better than many thought he would, and yet the outcome of this 'contest' was still never in doubt.
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