Floyd unfazed by ‘dirty’ Conor
LOS ANGELES — Floyd Mayweather has accused Conor McGregor of “fighting dirty” in training but is confident of a clean battle when the two men meet in their August 26 superfight.
Mayweather said during a media conference call on Thursday that he believes mixed martial arts star McGregor has used illegal tactics in sparring sessions.
The undefeated former welterweight king, who is coming out of retirement to fight McGregor in Las Vegas, said he had spotted rabbit punches in footage of McGregor’s sparring session with Paulie Malignaggi.
McGregor, who has never fought in a professional boxing contest, appears to floor Malignaggi in the footage.
Mayweather, 40, was unimpressed.
“I had a chance to see it and I thought it was interesting,” Mayweather said of McGregor’s knockdown of Malignaggi. “A lot of rabbit punching, a lot of illegal shots, behind the head.”
McGregor has hired veteran referee Joe Cortez during his training camp to help advise on boxing rules and ensure he fights clean.
“He’s had Joe Cortez in his training camp and I’ve still seen him being extremely dirty,” Mayweather said.
Veteran referee Robert Byrd will be the third man in the ring, and Mayweather is confident he will maintain control of the contest.
Byrd officiated Mayweather’s 2013 win over Robert Guerrero in Las Vegas.
“I truly believe the referee is going to do a great job,” Mayweather said.
“His job is to keep the fight clean. He doesn’t have anything to worry about. I’m looking forward to following the Queensberry rules of boxing.”
Mayweather retired from the ring in 2015 with a perfect 49-0 record.
A win against McGregor would see the welterweight become only the second boxer to reach 50-0, joining former lightweight champ Julio Cesar Chavez, who was 87-0 when he drew with Pernell Whitaker in 1993.
But Mayweather insisted that moving to that historic benchmark is not on his mind.
“Even though this is my 50th fight, that is not my focus,” Mayweather said. “I just like to do it the Mayweather way.”
Win or lose, Mayweather is adamant that nothing will be able to tempt him back into the ring following his return against McGregor, which will earn him at least $150 million before his share of international PPV revenue.
“This is my last one,” he said.
“I gave my word to (adviser) Al Haymon, I gave my word to my children, I don’t want to break that,” Mayweather said.
“I’m going to stick to my word — this is going to be my last fight.”