McGREGOR LIFTS LID ON REASON FOR FLOYD FEUD

from CHRIS McKENNA in Las Vegas with all those rules and I realised we are the same weight. That is when he became on my radar.

“I said, ‘You know what, I’m going to climb up and I will go in different disciplines and I will get that fight with him’.

“In the end it was him who came with me.”

McGregor is exuding confidence as their mega-money clash draws closer despite the odds being stacked against him.

He is making his professional boxing debut against a fighter who has not lost in 49 fights and beaten some of the best. But McGregor said: “I believe I will knock him out early.

“One or two rounds. With eight ounce gloves I don’t see him surviving.

“I don’t care if he catches it on the glove, I’ll flatten him through the gloves. I’ll be the king of both sports.”

McGregor defended his decision not to employ a boxing coach.

The Irishman brought in boxers to spar and referee Joe Cortez to oversee sessions to ensure he is aware of the rules.

But he kept the coaches who look after him for his UFC fights. “Why would I bring in someone when there is this boxing v MMA thing? It’s not needed,” he said.

“I’ve been with my team my whole life, they know every shot I throw, they know my moods, they know everything. There was no need for it.”

Stoppages

Mayweather agrees that a knockout is on the cards in the early hours of Sunday.

“This fight is not going the distance,” said Mayweather, whose last of his 26 stoppages was in 2011.

“I’m telling you all. No matter what he says it’s not going the distance.”