I’m going to run boxing..
Conor’s bold prediction over €500m Vegas brawl notorious vow to ‘bounce Floyd’s head off the canvas’
CONOR Mcgregor has insisted he will “run boxing” after he “bounces Floyd Mayweather’s head off the canvas” on August 26.
The pair, who will clash in a €500million superfight, came face-to-face at the SSE Wembley Arena for the fourth and final time on their multi-city press tour. Mcgregor, who turned 29 yesterday, claimed he will quadruple his wealth after the Las Vegas showdown. Dressed in a navy suit with a pink flower, the Dubliner certainly had the swagger of a man on top of his game. The Notorious received a hero’s welcome as he bounced into the ring and started shadow boxing. More than 10,000 people packed into the London venue as the two combat sports icons took to the stage for a final round of verbal sparring. Irish fans turned out in their droves and chants of “Ole, Ole, Ole” filled the arena. And when Mcgregor took the mic, he boldly predicted he will crush the legacy of US star Mayweather, who has won all of his 49 professional fights. He said: “This is my first time in a boxing ring – and in six weeks I [will] run boxing. This is my boxing ring. I am boxing. “We are six weeks out from the biggest fight of the century. “The bull***t is over now. In six weeks’ time, I will sleep this fool and bounce his head off the canvas. “Then we can take it to the octagon and see if he’s all talk. Proving doubters wrong motivates me to keep going and to conquer the unconquerable. “My home country is very close to my heart. Everyone knows about the Irish fans. You don’t mess with them. “It’s a different animal when the Irish are in town. That’s the truth.” UFC lightweight champ Mcgregor repeatedly poked fun at Mayweather’s age in the tongue-in-cheek exchanges. But determined not to be out-done, a brazen Mayweather then took the mic and declared: “I’m ready to go to Ireland. Can we go to Dublin tomorrow? “I can conquer any country. I run Ireland, I own Ireland.” Earlier in the evening, Mayweather rubbished Mcgregor’s predictions and said he isn’t worried about his rival’s mixed martial arts background. But he praised the Crumlin fighter for his loud-mouthed antics. Mayweather told reporters: “I’m the best at trash talking. “When I speak he’s always interrupting me. I can push his buttons
but he can’t push mine. There have been a lot of trash talkers, he’s not bad, let’s rank him No2, I’m No1. “I‘m not the same Floyd Mayweather I was two years ago but I got young guys in the boxing gym pushing me, I have good days and bad days. “He’s taller, bigger; he has youth on his side. We’ll see if the lay-off has an effect. “But I’ve never watched tapes of my opponents because when these guys face me they change their style. “I’m asked if I’m worried about elbows or kicks but I’m just going to let the referee do his job. “When people fight Floyd Mayweather, they’re never the same again. “I don’t know too much about Mcgregor, I know him from the UFC and I see why he’s where he’s at, he’s tough and he’s entertaining. I don’t think about his prediction, I told him yesterday I’ve got a granite chin, I’ve never hit the canvas. “He is awkward, he has youth on his side. I respect him as a man, he has to earn my respect as a fighter. “Every MMA guy is trying to fight a boxer. A fight like this can only happen once in a lifetime.” Meanwhile, UFC boss Dana White described the cross-code scrap as the biggest fight in history. And he reckons Mcgregor will land a punch on the elusive Mayweather. He said: “This whole thing is about trying to get in each other’s heads.” “These guys are going to try and knock each other unconscious in a month and a half – this is part of the deal. “At the end of the day it’s a fight, Floyd Mayweather is 41 years of age – he struggles with southpaws. Conor Mcgregor is 29 and he will catch Mayweather in a 12-round bout.” But White said the Irish hero might not return to the UFC. He added: “You can never be confident about that. We sold the company a long time ago and a lot of young guys made a lot of money and now they’re sitting at home doing nothing. “It is hard to get up the morning to get punched in the face if you’ve got that much money in the bank. “My instinct says he’ll keep fighting, it’s my job to make sure he’s looked after. “He’s going to go in there and try to knock Floyd out, whether it’s to his demise, or whether he win, it’s going to be an exciting fight.”
We are just six weeks out from the biggest fight of the century CONOR MCGREGOR LONDON LAST NIGHT