Jones: McGregor can’t beat Mayweather
Jones says that, despite his admiration for McGregor, he doesn’t think the Irishman can beat Mayweather.
I really admire Conor McGregor a lot. He’s been a huge inspiration to me. But I’m also a fan of greatness – and Floyd Mayweather is unquestionably great. He’s 40 but Floyd takes care of himself, he’s been living a clean life, you’d be surprised what you can get out of yourself when you live the way Floyd does – he has all the resources to stay healthy and on top of his game. Miguel Cotto and Oscar De La Hoya, all these guys have tremendous punching power. But what they have that McGregor doesn’t is the years of experience and tightness to back up that punching power. I’m really happy for McGregor to be in this position but if I were a betting man, I’d imagine that you’d just have to side on the side of greatness.
Tyson: McGregor ‘is going to get killed’ boxing Mayweather
Tyson says McGregor will not be able to beat Mayweather under boxing rules. Tyson said that if it were him in the fight with McGregor, he would allow the Irishman to use kicks and knees in the fight.
McGregor is going to get killed boxing. I got mad because I thought they were going to use MMA rules against boxing because that’s what it’s all about: Can the boxer beat the MMA guy? McConor put his dumb–s in a position where he’s gonna get knocked out because this guy’s been doing this all his life since he was a baby. McConor can’t kick and grab and stuff so he won’t stand much of a chance…McGregor took the biggest sucker rules in the history of boxing.
Aldo: ‘McGregor was never a champion of anything’
Aldo says:
McGregor was never a champion of anything. He defeated the champion and left. A real champion has to defend (the belt). I speak for (Max) Holloway because, win or lose (against Frankie Edgar), he will be there fighting. I’m happy that Holloway is the champion. An example, someone who deserved being where he is.
Mayweather: ‘Not going to be a dull fight’
Mayweather, who has been spending time training with Anthony Joshua in Vegas, says that he and McGregor are both preparing for the fight in the same way, and fans can expect an exciting battle.
There has been a lot of trash-talkers [through his career], and at the end of the day, he’s not bad. We will rate him number two and I’m number one – he’s got heart… Am I worried about an elbow or knee? I’m going to let the referee do his job, he will be extremely fair but firm. Nevada Commission is about treating everybody fair… He’s a warrior, that’s what I do know about Conor McGregor. He’s going to fight to the end. He’s approaching this fight like I’m approaching this fight. It’s kill or be killed. Believe me when I say this: It’s not going to be a dull fight.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BW5xYvKDmZu/
McGregor, Draymond Green feud on Instagram
McGregor posts a photo of himself on Instagram, wearing a Golden State Warriors’ No. 23 jersey. This upsets NBA player Draymond Green, who tells McGregor:
We rocking with Floyd (Mayweather) bro not you… take that off bruh.
McGregor responds in two posts:
That’s CJ Watson mate. I don’t know who the fuck you are. No disrepect tho kid, keep hustling and stay in school.
Now ask yourself why I’m rocking C.J when I don’t know or give a fuck about basketball. I dribble heads off the floor. Not a ball. This is no game here kid.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BW4djQ5lIb6/
McGregor’s choice of wearing a C.J. Watson jersey has subtext to it: Watson was linked to Mayweather’s domestic abuse case between him and former partner Josie Harris in 2010.
Malignaggi: Eight rounds with McGregor was ‘good work’
Malignaggi talks about his eight-round sparring session with McGregor, which he describes as “good work”. Malignaggi says they were originally scheduled for six rounds, but ended up extending it to eight. He said both showboated at times, but he couldn’t guess whether McGregor will do so in the fight with Mayweather.
There was a lot of trash talking right away. A lot of fighting right away. At the end, you look back on it, it was kind of fun. I don’t have many people who can match my trash talk, but Conor definitely can. It was making it a lot of fun…To say a mixed martial artist is coming into boxing and wouldn’t be awkward is an understatement. He’s going to have his own style and set of things he does. He’s got a game plan. It’s not what people think…I’ll put it like this: He knows what he wants to do and he has a method of how he wants to get there. The mechanism of how he gets there may look, to the naked eye, ‘hmm, I don’t know about this.’ But there’s a method to his madness. He’s a thinker…He’s got some pop in the left hand, I can’t take that away from him. In boxing, especially against a guy like Floyd Mayweather, you need to devise a few more weapons, and I think that’s what Conor is working on. I think … coming into this situation already knowing Conor has a big left hand … you’re probably going to prepare for that left hand. Obviously, Conor is working on other things besides the left hand, so there can be that surprise element to it. … There’s going to be other things he needs to make you worry about, and that’s what’s being worked on in camp. He’s effective at what he’s doing.
Top boxing coach: McGregor has ‘the fighter’s curse’
While others are focusing on McGregor’s height, boxing trainer Virgil Hunter takes note of some issues with McGregor’s physique.
One of the things that I noticed is that [McGregor’s] body – he has the waist of a model. He doesn’t have a fight trunk…he has a waist as opposed to a trunk. There’s a difference. You know, a trunk is strong, powerful, thick — not only be able to take it but get out of the way. But he has more of a model’s waist and if I’m thinking like Floyd, I’m thinking about the body because his body’s gonna be very vulnerable to body shots. Everything is sitting right there for you to touch. So I wouldn’t be surprised to see a lot of in-fighting on Floyd’s behalf…Also [McGregor] has what we call ‘The Fighter’s Curse.’ He has bone ridges over his eyes. I noticed he has cut a lot in the eyes in MMA fighting. He also has that jutting chin. So that’s a curse within itself also. But I expect him to cut over the eyes because of the bone ridges, and when those snapping punches hit you over the eyes like that he’ll get cut worse that he did in MMA. In my opinion he’ll cut up.
McGregor’s team hire referee Joe Cortez
McGregor’s team has retained the services of retired Hall of Fame referee Joe Cortez. Cortez will work for six weeks with McGregor and his team, conducting eight and twelve round fight simulations – where Cortez reads the rules and initial warnings, basically recreating a scenario similar to a professional boxing match. Cortez has worked in 986 professional bouts, of which 176 were world title fights.
They (McGregor’s group) were looking for a referee with a broad knowledge of the rules…for me it’s an honor. I’m working with McGregor as a unified boxing advisor. My job is to teach him not to commit any mistakes during his fight against Mayweather Jr…This will be a fight between a boxer and a mixed martial arts specialist. As I said, my role will be to prepare McGregor so that he does not commit any breach of the rules on the day of the fight. It’s an opportunity to recreate fights and their rules. He is a fighter who is learning very fast and has previous experience in fights and is moving quite well. The only thing I can say is that it will be an interesting fight.
McGregor spars in Gucci shorts
McGregor posts a picture of himself on Instagram, in £240 Gucci swimming shorts. He captions it:
Sparring today. The shorts are Gucci.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BWzcV1eA0MY/
McGregor nutritionist wants speed over power
Lockhart, who is working for McGregor in preparation for his fight with Mayweather, says nutritional tweaks are necessary going from one sport to the other, with the prominent change being a reduction in walking around weight.
With an MMA match, wrestling, (jiu-jitsu and) having someone on top of you, weight matters – with wrestling it does have a huge effect. With boxing, I believe speed is key. If I’m bigger than you but can’t hit you, it doesn’t make a whole lot of difference. Not as much grappling, the referee pulls you apart as soon as that does happen. I want to make sure the fighter is lower in weight, the cut is not as big and the reload is not as much…For an MMA fighter to reload, they’ll gain 15, 18 pounds, which gives them that advantage (on fight night). [For] boxing, I want him actually walking in close to weight the week of the fight. Walking in, weighing in and maybe gaining a couple pounds after that.
Nelson: Age could catch up with Mayweather
Former world cruiser-weight champion, Johnny Nelson, says Mayweather’s age could catch up with him against a ‘hungry’ McGregor.
Floyd Mayweather is 40 years old. He’s been out of the ring for a while. I know he’s top tier, we’re thinking there’s no chance this guy [will lose], but Conor McGregor is very fast individual, he’s got power in both hands. We want to see how age has affected Floyd Mayweather. In my head, Floyd does it hands down, but let’s not forget he’s in there against a 29-year-old hungry man that can hit, that’s fast and that wants it. So it is not a done deal…Guys that come from mixed martial arts, if you’re top level, you will blitz everybody until you come against someone who is technically supreme at boxing because your defence is too open. You saw this with Wladimir and Vitaly Klitschko. When they first came into boxing, especially Wladimir, he was getting knocked out, pick-pocketed, especially when he came against class fighters…They’ve got to tighten up a bit, change the balance, change the positioning. But fitness is second to none.
Danis: I really think Conor’s going to knock him out
Danis says McGregor will knock out Mayweather.
I’m telling you, he’s really going to knock him out. I really think it’s going to be a bad mismatch, I swear to God. I feel it. If you look at Mayweather: he’s in the strip club every night, he’s at a basketball game, he’s doing all this stuff. He’s not really focused, man. A lot of people don’t understand about Conor; he takes notes after every training session. He goes home and watches the tape, takes notes and literally.. it’s different for him. For Mayweather this is a sport, for us this is a lifestyle. Mayweather’s not a martial artist, so Conor is a different level from him.
Ellerbe: McGregor trolling with training videos
Mayweathe Promotions CEO, Leonard Ellerbe, says McGregor is trying to fool the world with his apparent slow pace in his training videos.
Conor McGregor is a smart dude. He’s a smart dude. Do y’all actually believe that footage he put out there is real? I’m just being honest. Do you honestly believe that he put that footage out there and it’s real looking the way it looked? C’mon now. Guess what? He tricked all y’all. Every last one of you. That he looked slow on the bag, he’s doing this and doing that. Y’all can fall for it. We’re not…I see a guy who’s got tremendous timing..Tremendous timing. How he’s coming over the top of guys’ jabs and when he touches them and turns it over, and then he’s doing damage. I mean, real damage. If he ain’t knocking him out, they’re falling down. And then they be messed up.
Mayweather: ‘Don’t believe’ McGregor KO’d in sparring
Mayweather says he doesn’t believe McGregor was knocked out during a sparring session.
If I ain’t seen no footage, I don’t believe it … me and Jessie Vargas are in communication.
McGregor’s father: ‘Absolutely and unequivocally’ not racist
Tony McGregor insists racism claims against his son are wrong. During the recent world press tour, McGregor was criticised for telling Mayweather to “dance for me, boy” – a phrase that has racial overtones in the United States. He further inflamed the claims by stating that he could not be racist because “I am half-black from the belly button down.” Father Tony says:
Conor is absolutely, unequivocally not racist. It’s not about skin colour. No two combatants would ever get into a ring and the issue would be the colour of their opposing skin. No, absolutely not. It’s a fight issue, not a race issue.
McGregor camp deny sparring KO
McGregor’s management categorically deny Vargas’ claim that Brandon Rios knocked out McGregor while sparring during training. Having been previously misreported in the media that Bradley Wheeler was, in fact, the man who KO’d McGregor, McGregor’s team clarify that neither Rios or Wheeler have sparred with Conor.
The guy mentioned by Jessie Vargas is Brandon Rios, not Brad Wheeler. Neither have sparred with Conor.
‘I’m a statue waiting to happen’
McGregor posts to Instagram.
“Fighter at rest” 2017. “Boxer at rest” 323 B.C. I told you fools I’m a statue waiting to happen. Someone get on that quick, and stuff one in the middle of every City that I’ve taken over. In other words – EVERY FUCKING CITY.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BWqPOhyA-av/
Rios denies McGregor KO, says they have never met
Rios says that reports of him knocking out McGregor in sparring, as relayed by Brendan Vargas, are not true, and that he has never met McGregor.
No man. Vargas is f-cking about. I never met that motherf-cker. I know nothing about him, but I’d like to spar him. It’s a f-cking rumor man. I’ve been getting text messages. Phone blowing up. I don’t even know who he is.
White: ‘McGregor ‘Not a boxer’
White says that, after watching videos of McGregor boxing, that the Irishman will not beat Mayweather through standard boxing techniques.
All I’ve seen are stuff that he’s [McGregor] sent me, videos that he’s sent me. Listen he’s not a boxer, at the end of the day, Conor McGregor is not a boxer, he’s a fighter. Conor McGregor is the bigger, stronger guy and needs to hit Floyd Mayweather and needs to hurt him. I don’t see him out-pointing Floyd in a boxing match. I see him getting in, turning it into a fight and roughing Floyd up. I believe in this fight Floyd is going to fight traditionally the way that Floyd fights, the best defensive fighter ever.
‘McGregor has changed fashion in Ireland’
In Sligo, the man who used to sell McGregor clothes, says McGregor has changed fashion in Ireland. EJ Menswear shop owner, Eamonn Cunningham, has noticed a huge upsurge in the sale of three-piece suits since McGregor has become so popular.
The menswear business in Ireland has a lot to thank Conor McGregor for.
https://www.facebook.com/ejmenswearsligo/videos/463467223782595/