Judging called into question
McGregor claims bias in early-round scores
Conor McGregor blames the judges for his defeat to Floyd Mayweather Jr., saying they were “biased” after it was revealed that even the early rounds he appeared to dominate were scored against him.
McGregor came out strongly before ultimately falling to a 10th-round technical knockout defeat in his first foray into pro boxing, where he took on Mayweather, a former pound-forpound No. 1.
It was widely assumed McGregor had claimed the opening three rounds. Mayweather, who took his record to 50-0 as a professional, was hit with a number of solid shots and threw punches himself only occasionally.
Not so, according to officials Burt Clements and Guido Cavalleri. Clements and Cavalleri gave McGregor just a single round, the first. Clements scored the bout 89-82 and Cavelleri 89-81, the difference coming because Cavalleri had the ninth as a 10-8 round for Mayweather. Another judge, Dave Moretti, gave McGregor rounds one through three but went with Mayweather the rest of the way.
Ultimately, the scoring did not matter. Referee Robert Byrd ended the contest in the 10th, but that did little to appease McGregor.
“I think that’s very biased,” McGregor said when told of the scoring. “I am actually shocked at that. I thought I won the first three clearly. The fourth could have gone either way. I thought I snuck out round eight, then he won nine and got the finish. I thought I did OK.”
Fatigue kicked in for McGregor as the fight progressed, and he was exhausted by the end, with Mayweather finishing things off with an intense flurry.
The UFC champion admitted his propensity to tire at certain moments of bouts is something he will seek to address before returning to the mixed martial arts octagon.
“I really properly worked my ass off,” McGregor added. “I need to work out why there are these dips in the middle of fights. I need to keep going and pushing and striving. I will continue to get better.”