The Lead Up to the Mayweather/McGregor Fight
In July of 2015, Conor McGregor told Conan O’Brien that he would be excited about boxing against Floyd Mayweather. Mentioning a price of US$180 million, McGregor wondered who wouldn’t be willing!
McGregor went on to say that he knew for sure that Mayweather would not be willing to step into the world of the MMA, mentioning the fact that it was pure, unprotected fighting with no limitations. He once again said that he would definitely be willing to step into the world of boxing, however, and would be willing to fight Mayweather if the opportunity came up.
McGregor Has Always Been a Confident Fighter
Conor McGregor has certainly never lacked any confidence in his ability, and proudly announced that, were the fight to ever come about, he would take Mayweather apart, dismantling him in the ring.
Racist Allegations Made by Mayweather
In January of 2016, Mayweather stated that McGregor was treated differently because of the colour of his skin.
He said that the aggressive banter, or trash talk, that McGregor made use of, was praised and found impressive when a white fighter did it, but that when Mayweather did the same he was called arrogant and cocky. In an interview with Fight Hype, Mayweather stated that this was a very biased interpretation of what was essentially the same behaviour, and said that although he himself was not racist, racism existed and that this treatment was proof.
McGregor Shoots Back at Allegations of Favouritism
McGregor, one of the most popular MMA fighters with punters who enjoy wagering at Australian betting sites, retorted via Instagram the following day, warning Mayweather to never bring allegations of racism in as a factor for his success again.
He spoke of his Irish heritage, and detailed the oppression that Ireland had faced for many years. McGregor said that he understood the feelings of prejudice well, having experienced it as he had, and stated that it ran in his blood.
He spoke of his family’s struggle, and said that there was a time when simply having the surname of McGregor was punishable by death. He cautioned Mayweather to never place him in that category again, said that he would be more than willing to fight him, and even offered Mayweather a split purse of 80/20 in McGregor’s favour, thanks to the fact that Mayweather’s last fight had been a failure in terms of revenue, in order to offset this favouritism that Mayweather complained of.
Floyd Mayweather’s fight against Manny Pacquiao, billed as the Fight of the Century, had been a disappointing event for many spectators, even though it was successful commercially. Mayweather’s bout with Andre Berto, also in 2015, and the fight to which McGregor was referring, was a dud financially, although Mayweather himself made millions of dollars from it.
Things started ratcheting up in May of 2016, with the UK’s The Sun reporting that the two fighters were very close to agreeing on a fight that would make for the richest match in the history of boxing. Apparently what had pushed the talks forward was McGregor’s comment that he would crush Mayweather and knock him out in half a minute. Mayweather wanted to ensure that McGregor would eat his words, and seems determined to do so at the fight on the 26th of August 2016!
