McGregor: ‘I am the president of Ireland’
While on walkabout in Los Angeles, a shirtless McGregor responds to a question asking if the President of Ireland will be attending the upcoming fight:
I am the President of Ireland. He’s fighting that night.
Kavanagh: ‘Chris Martin kicks like a donkey’
Staying on in Dublin after Coldplay’s sold out Croke Park gig on Saturday night, Martin visits Straight Blast Gym on the Naas Road for a private training session with Kavanagh, before downing a pint at McDowell’s pub in Inchicore. Kavanagh Instagrams himself posing with Martin:
Good training today with my boy Chris Martin @coldplay kicks like a donkey but needs bit of work on his uppercuts.
He also shares a Facebook post with many Coldplay-related puns.
https://www.facebook.com/john.kavanagh.94695/posts/781803725333691
White: McGregor says he will KO Mayweather in 4 rounds
White talks about the upcoming McGregor-Mayweather fight.
Conor is a madman. He’s gonna let Floyd know what he’s gonna do and how he’s gonna do it. And everyone’s been saying to me this whole time, ‘Do you think that Conor can really beat Mayweather?’. Look Pacquiao was just beaten by a schoolteacher…I stopped doubting Conor McGregor a long time ago. I told my partner, Lorenzo Fertita a long time ago, ‘I don’t know if this kid can fight, but if he can even throw a punch, he’s gonna be a huge superstar’…Last night I landed at LAX and Conor landed at the same time from Ireland. He gets off, looks like he was just fitted at Armani and says, ‘I will knock this man out in four rounds’.
McGregor: Mayweather should’ve stayed retired
While shopping in LA’s Rodeo Drive, McGregor is asked about the $99.95 PPV price:
I’m confident…It should be $120.
And about reports that Mayweather took the fight because he has to pay $100 million in taxes.
That’s gotta sting. He shoulda paid his taxes and stayed retired and kept my name out of his mouth!..I’ll be smart [with my money]. I don’t care what he done. He’s f-cked now. He should have paid his taxes and stayed retired And kept my name out of his mouth.
White: Mayweather-McGregor press tour will be an ‘absolute shitshow’
White says that he will be accompanying McGregor on every stop on the press tour, and says he’s not entirely sure how the whole scene is going to play out, especially with so many unpredictable characters involved. He also says that
It’s going to be a f-cking shitshow. You know that. Absolute shitshow. So, I don’t know. It’s going to be crazy…It’s going to be a hybrid of the boxing press conferences and UFC press conferences…. I think it’s going to be more like a boxing press conference than it is our press conferences. You know how mine are. No bullshit. We walk in, and we sit down and, ‘What’s up? Who has the first question,’ and we get it rolling. I think there’s going to be a lot more bullshit in this one…I’m going to sit there with a mic, and when you ask me a question I will answer it. I’m not going to get up and give any speeches or do anything like that. I think Conor and I will come in, Conor and I will sit down, and we’ll answer questions when asked questions. I think that the rest of the people that are going to come in – I think there’s going to be a lot of people that come in and talk and have speeches.
Mayweather taxes: ‘My empire is rock solid’
Mayweather responds on Facebook to allegations that he is being pressured by the IRS over unpaid taxes from 2015.
https://www.facebook.com/floydmayweather/photos/a.412617678112.181798.363865183112/10155135258478113/?type=3&theater
Mayweather Sr.: McGregor is ‘Gonna get whooped’
Mayweather Senior, who is training his son for his upcoming fight with McGregor, says McGregor will not win.
If Floyd stops him or not—it doesn’t make a difference for me. As long as Floyd beats the hell out of him. And that’s what I believe is gonna happen…Even if [Conor] goes the distance, [Floyd’s] gonna whoop his ass!
Kavanagh: McGregor not using specialised boxing coach
In an interview in The 42, Coach Kavanagh says McGregor is not using a specialised boxing coach, and that only he and Owen Roddy are involved in training. Together they will McGregor was on course to have completed the equivalent of 44 full boxing bouts by the time he climbs through the ropes at the T-Mobile Arena.
It’s just me and Owen. We’re the only trainers involved. You know, we thought about getting a boxing trainer involved, but we don’t have five years to prepare for this, we had – I don’t know – 11, 12 weeks. So if we brought someone else in, there’s the whole thing of trying to fit them into the way we do things. And at this stage, Conor’s not learning how to jab. He knows how to throw a jab. We kicked the idea around, and we decided, ‘You know what? We’ve gotten this far together, we seem to have a formula that works, let’s keep going with what we have.
Kavanagh: World Tour promoters ‘just think Ireland, UK – same thing’
In an interview with The 42, Kavanagh says McGregor was upset about not adding Dublin to the world promo tour.
[Wembley is not close to Ireland!] It’s not. I don’t know why it’s not coming to Dublin. If I say the Americans are idiots, I can see the headline! But it was very, very short-sighted. And it’s typical of American promotions, in my opinion. It’s like the UFC, when you go to Sweden and you do the walk-out time to suit people on the west coast of America. It’s ridiculous! If [Alexander] Gustafsson is fighting in Sweden, he should be walking out at 9:30pm Swedish time. And I see this as being that same short-sightedness, on behalf of some Americans… I’ll tone it down a bit!..You know, it’s a case of, ‘Where’s Ireland? Ah, that’s the UK, isn’t it? Let’s stick it in London’. And we were like, ‘No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no!’ They just saw it as a bigger audience. What’s Dublin got, 1.2 million people? And London has, what, 10 million? But who cares? Wherever you put it – let’s say they put it in a 10,000 stadium – okay, well that’s 10,000 people in London, but it would have been 10,000 people in Dublin. You would have easily filled the 3Arena, and then everybody in London would tune in anyway and watch it on Youtube. Absolute short-sightedness. They just think Ireland, UK, same thing. ‘Ah, it’s Europe’. It really bugged me, and I know Conor wasn’t over the moon about it either.
Johnson: Strip McGregor’s belt
Johnson says McGregor should give up his belt.
Y’know I see the division as kind of up for grabs. Conor’s going to box. I know they said some things about him coming back in December. You never know: $100 million lets someone relax a little bit. Who knows if we see him back then?…I believe that title should be vacated, because he’s signing over to another sport. As I look at the division, I don’t see a champion right now.
Wallace: Don’t write McGregor off against Mayweather
Wallace, a six-time All Ireland boxing champion who sparred with McGregor in Las Vegas for six weeks in preparation for the Nate Diaz rematch, says McGregor;s chances should not be written off:
Like a lot of people are writing him off but he has proved a lot of people wrong so far. Look he’s fighting Mayweather, one of the greatest boxers of all time, but he has youth on his side, you never know what he’s going to do. He’s elusive, he’s very accurate when he punches, he doesn’t miss a lot. At the end of the day you never know what is going to happen in one of the biggest nights in boxing history. I know everybody thinks Mayweather is going to win but you just can’t write him off…He’s strong but it’s mostly the fact that he is so accurate, it’s more the crisp in the punch rather than the power. Like if [Mayweather] was caught flush with a left hand he would probably go down…In my heart I’d love to see him do it and for the whole of Ireland I’d love to see him doing it but it is a massive ask.
Ward: McGregor needs to be ‘awkward’ to gain advantage over Mayweather
Ward urges McGregor to use MMA-style moves to gain an advantage over Mayweather.
I don’t think this is going to be as easy as people think…for Floyd Mayweather. I am a Floyd fan, Floyd’s a legend and he is going to take care of business, don’t get me wrong. But Floyd is 40 years old and McGregor is a lot younger, he is naturally bigger and, if he has nothing else, he has a big left hand – he has one hand that if he lands it can cause some trouble. Now I don’t think that he is going to land that shot but just the movements that Conor has, the awkward, martial arts type of movements, it’s going to take a few rounds for Floyd to kinda figure him out. Ultimately, I think he will, but I think it will be interesting early…[McGregor] is not going to end it early. I wouldn’t focus on the knockout because if he goes out there looking for the knockout, he could get knocked out. I wouldn’t totally abandon the martial arts moves, like I said, some of the awkward things he does. Obviously he can’t lift his legs, and that’s going to be a challenge in and of itself, to not kick Floyd or grapple Floyd like he would in an octagon, but be who you are. We are going to work on boxing, but be awkward, be as awkward as you can, make it ugly because if it’s a close fight where there is an argument and it’s the sixth or seventh round, it’s close, [people are asking] who’s winning, that’s a win for [McGregor].”
Jeffries: McGregor’s sparring is ‘high level’
Jeffries, who won a bronze medal in boxing at the 2008 Olympic Games, and has watched McGregor spar with Van Heerden, says McGregor’s critics are wrong.
I was there for the spar and have been there for many spars and they have been competitive, certainly not one way like everyone is making out. People see McGregor take a punch and they jump on him. Van Heerden is a world class boxer though, always in great shape and McGregor gave him problems in there. If I came in and saw him sparring and never knew who McGregor was, I would think he was a high-level professional boxer, not a mixed martial artist or a novice boxer. I thought this guy can fight and box…The one thing that I was very impressed with when I saw him spar was his athleticism, his elusiveness and the way he comes back with that counter left hand. Even when not in training camp and at full fitness, he still has that potent weapon.
Bradley: McGregor ‘lifted me off my feet with his right hand’
Bradley says he was brought into McGregor’s camp after being recommended by Conor Wallace, the Northern Irish amateur boxer who was called upon to help McGregor prepare for his rematch with Nate Diaz. Wallace’s recommended Bradley’s because he is replicate the Mayweather style. Bradley:
People laugh when they hear me saying I can replicate Mayweather. I guess nobody can move like Floyd, but I’ve been studying everything about the guy for the last 13 years. I know what way he moves and I know how he moves into his punches. I know how he reacts to getting hit. I feel like I’m able to bring that in to help Conor as he prepares for this fight. When I’m competing, I don’t necessarily use Mayweather’s style, but I definitely use some of his tools. The step-back right hand and check left hook are two techniques I use a lot. And of course, I use some of his defensive tactics to stop me getting hit.
On McGregor’s boxing ability:
Conor is a very good boxer. He doesn’t move like any other boxer. He’s powerful, fast and light on his feet … He’s very good at getting in and out and connecting. He’s so quick on his feet it’s very hard to judge the distance with him. He’s so fast and unpredictable — that’s a very dangerous combination. I don’t think Mayweather has ever boxed anyone like that. He has this strange style and he can keep going at a serious pace for 12 rounds. He’s on his toes and he’s constantly keeping you guessing…I’ve got a black eye at the moment and I got that from him when he was wearing 16-ounce gloves. I don’t know if you’ve seen the photo that he uploaded onto his Instagram after our session. People are talking about his left hand and whether the power will be there with 10-ounce gloves — he lifted me off my feet with a right uppercut in 16 (ounce gloves)! That shot came out of nowhere. It was so fast and powerful. I can tell you now that those kinds of shots would drop boxers, and that was his right hand…I know he’ll give Floyd a hard fight. This will not be a walkover. I really think whoever puts more into their camp will win it. I know that Conor is putting in the work and that his confidence is through the roof. He’s going to be ready when fight night comes around.
McGregor to Mayweather: ‘You are in quicksand’
McGregor responds to Mayweather’s video where he practices on the double end bag.
You are in quicksand.
You are in quicksand.
— Conor McGregor (@TheNotoriousMMA) June 29, 2017
Frampton: Fight is good for boxing – unless McGregor wins
Frampton talks about the McGregor-Mayweather fight:
I don’t think that the fight is bad for boxing. I think that if McGregor wins, then that’s bad for boxing. I don’t think he will. It’s an event – go and see it – it gets people talking about boxing. How can it be bad for boxing? You look at what’s happening now – It’s almost like any show that’s half decent has to be on pay-per-view, and you have to pay extra money to watch it… But I think this event – Mayweather and McGregor – it can’t be anything but good for boxing, unless Mcgregor wins, and then it’s bad because we all look like mugs.
Minette says he wants to see less Clay in Season 2
Minnette says he wants to see less Clay in Season 2.
Everyone really loves each other and it really is a family now at this point. I want to see other people do more on the show. I want to see more stories from the other characters. Clay can take a seat on the sidelines.
Espinoza: McGregor can win with Superman punch
Espinoza, the executive vice president of Showtime Sports, talks about the possibility of seeing a Superman punch by McGregor, an MMA technique that is legal in boxing against Mayweather.
That’s well within the rules. A back fist probably wouldn’t be, but there is a lot of different things that can be thrown to throw off timing. I can guarantee Floyd has never seen someone coming and throwing a Superman punch.
White: McGregor wants to fight Nurmagomedov in Russia
White says McGregor has told him that following the Mayweather fight, he wants to face Khabib Nurmagomedov — in Russia, which would make it the first UFC fight held there.
You know what Conor told me? ‘I want Khabib in Russia.’ Isn’t he f-cking awesome?…Conor McGregor is a f-cking unicorn. There’s nothing like him. He’s working on boxing Floyd Mayweather and then he’s talking about fighting Khabib in Russia right after…Those are the kind of things that make that kid a f-cking superstar. I’ve got guys telling me, ‘I don’t want to shit – I don’t want to fight this guy, and I don’t want to do this.’ [McGregor says], ‘I want Floyd Mayweather then I want f-cking Khabib in Russia.’ How do you not love him? How do you not love Conor McGregor? Amazing.
Conlan still hoping for place on McGregor-Mayweather undercard
While preparing for his third professional boxing bout this weekend in Australia on the undercard of the Manny Pacquiao vs. Jeff Horn bout, Conlan says he is still hoping to get on the McGregor-Mayweather undercard.
[Floyd]’s never going to win a talking shit match with Conor McGregor. Conor McGregor is on a different level when it comes to that — and that affects people. It’s hard to see how it goes because Floyd is almost unbeatable, well he has been unbeatable. Conor is Conor, so he’s going to come out and give it his all. I’m excited, I wished him good luck. I asked him to try and get me on the show but I haven’t heard back, so I don’t think it’s going to happen.
