Steve Farhood is a boxing commentator for Showtime sports and is now a member of the international boxing hall of fame, after being enshrined this June. Farhood has worked in the sport for over 30 years and is most known for his work on the series “ShoBox”, which has produced many of the world champion fighters you see today.

In part 1 of my “On The Ropes” boxing radio interview with Steve Farhood, I get his thoughts on this weekends Garcia vs. Broner bout and his views on why Broner is a 5-1 underdog. Farhood also talks about the Floyd Mayweather vs. Conor McGregor match being made and breaks down what kind of fight we can expect. Additionally, Steve speaks on Mayweather’s legacy if he does not score a knockout. Here is what Steve Farhood had to say.

Jenna J: Mikey Garcia vs. Adrien Broner is set to take place this Saturday night, what are your thoughts on this match up?

Steve Farhood: The odds are fascinating, Broner’s a 5-1 underdog, that is amazing. The fact of the matter is, we are always looking at Broner from his outside the ring activities; not making weight, the disturbing and sometimes bizarre behavior. What we need to look at now, and this fight is going to tell us this, is he just good enough physically?

We always assumed Broner was better than he showed because maybe he wasn’t into it as much or he wasn’t committed as much, but he’s such a slow starter and he falls behind in fights and he’s not the biggest puncher in the world. Does Broner have what it takes skillwise against Mikey Garcia, who is such a well rounded and intelligent fighter? I can understand Mikey Garcia being the favorite, but 5-1? That shocked me, and you really have to ask the question, how big a fight is this for Adrien Broner? If he loses, where is he at?

Jenna J: Why do you think Broner is listed as 5-1 betting underdog?

Steve Farhood: It’s difficult to say, I really am mystified by it because even if Garcia wins, I’ll be surprised if he stops Broner because Broner is the bigger guy who can take a 140lb punch. The reason I guess is because Mikey is such a smart fighter. Is there a better young fighter in America? You got Errol Spence, Deontay Wilder, but Mikey may be that good, and the odds reflect that.

Jenna J: Mayweather vs. McGregor is set to happen on August 26th, were you at all surprised to see a match up like this getting made?

Steve Farhood: I am not surprised that the fight got made. Floyd is not a guy who is a risk taker and he sees this as a lot of money for low risk, and he’s right, it’s a lot of money, there’s no doubt about that. As good a fight as Golovkin is with Canelo — which is a pure fight — more people are talking about Mayweather-McGregor. Think about how big this media tour is going to be, it’s going to be crazy.

Jenna J: What kind of fight are you expecting with Mayweather-McGregor?

Steve Farhood: Is it going to be a competitive fight? If it is, then it doesn’t say much for boxing because McGregor has never had a professional fight. I don’t want to make a prediction because I do score the fights and I only lose if I make a prediction, but I expect Floyd Mayweather to do very well. McGregor is a bigger guy who has legitimate punching power, but we’ve seen this before with Floyd, he has a very good ability to take away his opponent’s biggest weapon, and with McGregor that is obviously the left hand.

Floyd is too smart, and plus there is nothing to indicate that Floyd is going to start acting his age. Floyd is forty now and that’s pretty advanced, some fighters clearly start losing it, we’ve seen it with Manny Pacquiao now. The Mayweather who fought Berto looked very capable and looked like Floyd, and for that, I don’t think there’s any reason to think that he’s not going to be close to 100% when he fights McGregor. That should be enough for him to dominate.

Jenna J: A lot of people are saying that if Floyd doesn’t knock out McGregor, that it would hurt his legacy because he was unable to finish a guy who is so below his level. Would you agree with that?

Steve Farhood: I don’t think so because we know Floyd and his mentality. If he can go for the knockout and views that as very low risk, he’ll do it. If he views it as risking anything, he won’t do it at all, he’ll win twelve rounds. If he goes twelve rounds, he will get hammered by the boxing press, and I can understand it.

I think the crowd is going to be pro McGregor from the start because McGregor is such a huge underdog and it would such an amazing story if he happened to pull off this monumental upset. I can see Floyd maybe dominating and then in round seven or eight the crowd turning on him a little bit if he doesn’t go for a knockout and plays it safe. If Floyd can win twelve rounds without getting hit, he’s going to win twelve rounds without getting hit.