By Allan Fox: At today’s press conference in Toronto, Conor McGregor took the stage and ridiculed Floyd Mayweather Jr., making fun of him school backpack to their press conference. McGregor, “you’ve got a school backpack. You can’t even read.” Mayweather looked very upset at that point. McGregor then tore into Showtime boss Stephen Espinoza saying that he looks like a “weasel.” Espinoza wasn’t smiling at all when McGregor continued to call him a weasel.
In listening to McGregor during Tuesday’s press conference in Los Angeles, I had the feeling that he was going to explode for the Toronto press conference, as he said he didn’t like the way he was treated. He didn’t like how the press conference went down, and he didn’t like the speeches that were made. McGregor is more of a natural guy that speaks off the cuff. He doesn’t have memorized stuff to say. He says whatever comes to his mind.
McGregor had the fans eating out his hand. This was definitely a pro-McGregor crowd in Toronto. He’s obviously, but he had the fans on his side nonetheless. McGregor was event tearing into Mayweather’s team members. There was no one safe from McGregor when he was on stage. I don’t think I’ve ever seen anything like this before. Mayweather looked like he didn’t know what to do other than just sit there and take it. When Mayweather finally did get his chance to talk, he didn’t have nearly as much interesting stuff to say. He raised his voice a lot, but he couldn’t come up with the same kind of insults that McGregor was hurtling at him.
I don’t think I’ve ever seen Mayweather look so bad. McGregor really got to him during his time at the MIC. McGregor even dared Mayweather to come up and take the microphone from him, and Mayweather didn’t do anything.
Wednesday’s Mayweather-McGregor press conference was A LOT more interesting than the previous one in Los Angeles, California. Mayweather grabbed an Irish flag and seemed to be using as a cape for a second. McGregor didn’t like what Mayweather was doing, so he grabbed Mayweather’s school bag and grabbed a handful of money and said “Is this it. Is this all there is?” It’s unclear how much money McGregor had in his hand. Whatever it was, he wasn’t impressed. Mayweather then gave McGregor his flag back, which he promptly threw into the audience. The boxing fans cheered loudly at this move by McGregor.
McGregor to put up his entire $100 million check on the outcome of their fight on August 26 on Showtime pay-per-view at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada. Mayweather wants the 28-year-old McGregor to bet it all on the fight. Some would say this is just more of a sign of the 40-year-old Mayweather showing signs of him being in need of money to pay off his tax debts. When it comes to making risky bets, it suggests there’s some desperation there for Mayweather. Hopefully Mayweather hasn’t been throwing away his fortune in bettering in Vegas since retiring from boxing 2 years ago in 2015. Gambling can be one of the quickest ways to burn through a great deal of money in a hurry.
“If you believe in yourself like you say you believe in yourself, bet your whole fight check,” Mayweather said.
If McGregor took Mayweather up on that bet and won his entire $100 million purse for their fight. it would put Mayweather in a really bad position. Of course, this is all just for show. No fighter is going to give up their purse if they lost a bet. This is just to get the boxing fans excited about the fight to get them to purchase it on Showtime PPV in wide numbers. These guys got to do better than talking about betting if they want to pull in the boxing public to purchase the fight, because I appears right now that McGregor is the one that will be pulling in the fans.
If you compare the things the boxing fans are saying about the Mayweather-McGregor fight compared to the MMA fans, it’s like night and day. The boxing fan see the fight as a hopes mismatch, and no a fair fight. In contrast, the MMA fans of McGregor’s see him as having a very real chance of winning the fight. McGregor is the guy that has brought in more fans on a consistent basis than Mayweather did during his 6-fight contract with Showtime that ended in 2015.
“One shot is all it takes,” said McGregor. “Check the facts – I bounce heads off the canvas.”
McGregor is says he’s going to be looking to knock Mayweather unconscious in the first 4 rounds of the fight. He obviously believes that’s his best chance of winning the fight. Mayweather is going to be on the move. He’s not going to stand and fight. Mayweather is likely going to make the fight ugly for the boxing fans that pay to see the fight on Showtime PPV.
I hope for Mayweather and the boxing public’s sake that Mayweather puts in more of an effort than he did in the Manny Pacquiao fight, because that was ugly. That was really ugly. Mayweather fought in a careful manner so he wouldn’t get hit, and he then played it safe for 12 rounds. Mayweather’s father Floyd Mayweather Sr. had to encourage him to start in putting in some effort by the 5th round, as he was doing nothing inside the ring and giving away rounds to Pacquiao due to him playing it safe.
“We’re not talking about being at the top for one year, two years, three years, four years. We’re talking about 21 years,” said Mayweather to McGregor. “Turn the pressure up. I don’t quit, I don’t fold under pressure. I’m the best and I know I’m the best.”
Boxing is way different than fighting in the UFC with the 4 oz. gloves. A fighter can’t stay on top for long with those types of gloves, and with all the different submission holds and kicks that are allowed. It’s almost impossible to have any real staying power in the UFC. That’s one of the drawbacks to the sport. The flimsy gloves and all the ways for a fighter to lose, it means that you can’t stay on top for too long. Mayweather would be in the same position if he had fought his entire career in the UFC. He wouldn’t last either. Someone would get to him and knock off his perch at the top.
“He tip-tap-toes to a decision. He’s never fought a day in his life, he’s a runner,” said McGregor.
A lot of boxing fans would agree with McGregor about Mayweather and the way he fights. He jabs and tries to win decisions. He doesn’t look to do anything spectacular. He doesn’t try to get out of his comfort zone by taking chances.
