Undefeated and previously retired boxing champion. Floyd Mayweather, has come out to criticize Irish UFC champion, Conor McGregor, claiming the boxer is extremely dirty and performs illegal boxing techniques ahead of their megafight in Las Vegas on August 26th.
Many boxing observers believe Conor McGregor, 29, has age on his side and could use it to his advantage against Mayweather, 40, who has been out of professional boxing since May 2015.
McGregor, a kickboxer, will have to avoid using his legs and fight Mayweather with his hands only, but Mayweather called out McGregor after seeing video clips of a sparring session between Conor and former world champion, Paulie Malignaggi.
The footage gave Mayweather an insight into the boxing skills of McGregor, who has a tendency to try ‘a lot of grappling, a lot of wrestling, (and) a lot of illegal shots’.
‘I had a chance to see it, I thought it was real interesting but (there was) a lot of rabbit punching, illegal rabbit punching behind the head,’ Mayweather said on Thursday.
‘A lot of the shots were illegal, a lot of grappling, a lot of wrestling, a lot of illegal shots. That’s just my honest opinion. But I’m pretty sure the referee is going to be fair on both sides. I want the referee to be fair and treat both competitors — myself and Conor McGregor — even and fair. I just want to have a good solid fight,’ he added.
‘I look forward to following the (Marquess of) Queensberry rules of boxing and I’m pretty sure (McGregor) looks forward to following the Queensberry rules of boxing. He had (boxing referee) Joe Cortez in his training camp which is a great thing.
‘(But) even though he had Joe Cortez in his training camp I’ve still seen him being extremely dirty.
But my job is not to worry about the referee, my job is to go out there and fight and let the referee do his job.’ Mayweather also blasted McGregor for going 12 rounds ith a retired, ‘out-of-shape’ Malignaggi.
‘Some may call it a knockdown, some may not call it a knockdown. At the end of the day, it only counts when you get under the lights, that’s just the gym,’ Mayweather said. ‘We shouldn’t be here judging Paulie, a guy that has been retired, commentating and travelling the world, not going to the gym at all, just going in there with an athlete period who is working out every day.
Honestly, it shouldn’t have even gone 12 rounds with a young guy that’s active.’
