The closer this fight gets, the more I feel that Conor has a chance to actually win. Although it's a very slim chance b/c it would have to be a knockout. He's simply not going to out point Floyd over 12 rounds.
Agree about Conor managing his energy. I remember in the 2nd Diaz fight Conor's corner repeatedly yelling to "Stay patient" at Conor. Boxing is slightly different than MMA in the fact that there's really nowhere to hide to take a quick breather. You can get a quick blow up against the cage or if your in guard, but in boxing you don't have that opportunity.
The only time I've ever seen Floyd in what I would consider a war was the first Maidana fight. As soon as he got cut, it bothered Floyd. Maidana made him uncomfortable and I remember Floyd repeatedly complaining to the ref while they were in the clinch. Maidana roughed him up, dirty boxed and tried to smother Floyd. Connor will need to do something similar. Maidana wa also the much bigger man in that fight, which might be an interesting thing to keep an eye on. I agree 100%, if Conor has any chance at all, he's got to rough Floyd up and get him out of his game.
I loved the Prince, and Joe Cortez actually compared Conor's style to the Prince. This could be telling b/c the Prince was just about as awkward as you could get inside the squared circle.
I've learned to never doubt Conor. Confidence and belief in yourself can take you to the mountaintop in this life, but my head just screams that Floyd's skills are just too much. They absolutely are, no question. But what Floyd will we see? As you mentioned, father time catches up to all of us, and when he catches us, it happens quickly. If we see something resembling Floyd as we know him, he'll win handily, but if father time's grasp has fell upon Floyd, we might just see something we'll tell our grand kids stories about tomorrow night.