Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
Conor’s a star , he could catch Floyd with a big shot...
Mayweather’s last opponent tips Mcgregor to shock boxing REPORTER’S ‘GANGLAND HOTBED’ LAUGHED AT BY FANS
THE US journalist who described Dublin as “on-edge” from gangland crime has been ridiculed on social media.
ESPN reporter Wright Thompson, who tried to link Mcgregor’s Crumlin upbringing to the Kinahan-hutch feud, said the area is “a place where fighting was tied to the daily act of living”. He also maintained The Notorious pursued an MMA career as “he didn’t want to look over his shoulder for the rest of his life”.
Thompson’s original piece was met with backlash as people took to Twitter made fun of it. One social media user from Crumlin said she didn’t realise she was taking her life into her hands walking the “mean streets of D12”.
Another said “It’s Crumlin, for God’s sake, not Tegucigalpa.”
Thompson also gave a violent narrative of what he called “the actual Dublin”. He FLOYD Mayweather’s last opponent believes Conor Mcgregor can shock boxing by winning the megafight.
American-haitian fighter Andre Berto was defeated after 12 rounds in September 2015 when his rival won a unanimous decision to enter retirement with a perfect 49-0 professional record.
But, despite Mcgregor being a boxing novice, Berto still believes the Dubliner has a chance of inflicting the first defeat when the pair meet on August 26 in Vegas.
He said: “Under that pressure and those lights and that atmosphere, Conor knows how to rise to the occasion.
“I just don’t put too much past him. I’ve been able to go to a few of his fights and really see how he soaks up that atmosphere.
“He gets energy from it, where a lot of people really break down or it allows them to fold.
“If it was a guy in the UFC or MMA that can do it, I believe he would be the one, for sure.”
Berto, 33, believes there is lots of potential for the UFC lightweight champion to win and upset 40-year-old Mayweather.
He told MMA Fighting: “I see Conor coming in there really showing that bravado, showing that cockiness and showing that he’s really there to fight.
“And somewhat trying to steal the stage from Floyd just with his antics and he kind of gets him into a mind-game situation, has him pulling some type of mistakes and [Mayweather] gets caught with a big shot and gets hurt. And [Mcgregor] could stop him.
“Or I see Floyd not playing into any of these antics and being who he is, to stay poised and to stay sharp and let his boxing skills just pick Conor apart.
“And either late rounds could stop Conor just from the accumulation of shots or maybe cuts or just being beat up, or just out boxing him for 12 rounds and just trying to make him look silly.”
Berto, who became friends with 29-year-old Mcgregor after meeting at injury rehab sessions in Los Angeles, said he understands why there has been some criticism from boxing purists. He also said he has spoken to Mcgregor in recent days and it “sounds like everything is going great”.
Berto, whose brother and sister are also MMA fighters, added: “It’s the fight game – anything can happen.
“It’s either Conor catches him early, finishes him or Floyd is going to outbox him and makes him look silly and tries to embarrass him.” said: “There is the tourist part of Dublin that’s very different from the actual Dublin which is a very clannish parochial place.
“Over the last 20 years there have been two major feuds between rival cocaine gangs. Both of those started in the neighbourhood where Conor is from.”