When the Floyd Mayweather – Conor McGregor super fight was announced a few weeks ago, a lot of fans were more hyped about the build up to the fight rather than the fight itself. Many believe that Mayweather will run circles around McGregor in a boxing ring for obvious reasons, however, that has not slowed down the buzz the fight had received during the first two stops on their World Tour.
The first stop was the Staples Center in Los Angeles and the crowd was electric. A pro-McGregor crowd saw their UFC lightweight champion have his first go in a boxing-style press conference. It was clear that McGregor was a tad bit out of place because the style of the press conference was not what he was used to. In the UFC, the fighters go back and forth and one another while the media asks them questions.
In boxing, there usually is one podium, one mic, and a speech-like presentation rather than an on-stage interview. McGregor admitted that he was unaware of the format and did not have any speeches prepared, so he just winged it for the fans. He was still very good on the mic, as he typically is, however, Mayweather took the first press conference due to him being more familiar with the territory.
There was speculation that Showtime shut off McGregor’s mic during Floyd’s speech. Conor is known for his back and forth trash talk, something that eluded him in Los Angeles because his mic got turned off. Showtime executive vice president Stephen Espinoza claimed that Showtime had nothing to do with the mishap, the audio was in the hands of Staples Center.
The next day the press tour was held in Toronto. There were over 17,000 fans that showed up and, once again, it was a very pro-McGregor crowd. Now acclimated to the territory and having his own personal mic the entire time on stage, Conor was more than prepared to fire back at Floyd, and boy did he ever.
Right away he got the crowd into it with a chant directed at the Mayweather family. Conor refused to stand at the podium so instead he had his own mic, that he made sure stayed on the entire press conference, and strutted around the stage owning the moment.
He even attacked Showtime, specifically Espinoza. He called Espinoza a weasel and some other vulgar things. He was not buying the whole “it was Staples Center” excuse.
Mayweather went second and had some good lines, but the crowd was eating him alive with constant boos. The crowd was into it from the beginning with Toronto’s own Drake introducing the fighters and McGregor just owning the stage. Day two of the Mayweather-McGregor world press tour might have been the greatest pre-fight press conference ever.
Boy, what a difference a day makes. Day three of the tour was at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York. The conference was scheduled to start at 6:30 ET, but it was delayed for just under two hours. The crowd immediately grew restless and a random rap concert was held to stall for time. The “concert” was welcomed with a smothering of boos.
Then finally the fighters arrived and McGregor was wearing something you don’t see every day.
Conor McGregor said he was wearing polar bear tonight. Shades of the GOAT Ric Flair. #MayMacWorldTour pic.twitter.com/4yHNDnliuL
— Chamatkar Sandhu (@SandhuMMA) July 14, 2017
Then Floyd came out in an entrance that made The Undertaker’s seem lighting fast. Then once again executives from Showtime spoke and the crowd was having none of it. They were already chapped because they had to wait almost two hours, which is not exactly energizing. Mix that with the random executives nobody in the building wants to hear and this conference was not off to the same start as Toronto’s.
McGregor finally got handed the mic and started rapping for some reason. Then he mocked 50 Cent and the Mayweather’s once again, saying that they are broke. The audio was also difficult to pick up at some points, which is a terrible job by whoever was in charge of that. McGregor never really got going in his speech and the crowd was not nearly as loud as the one in Toronto. It was still a very pro-Conor crowd, yet you could feel that there was nowhere near as much buzz as the second stop.
Floyd then took the mic and started doing his normal routine. “Hard work!… Hard work!… Hard Work!… Point to the easy work!” The crowd mostly boos him and he has fully embraced being the heel in this fight, something he has made a living of doing his whole career.
His best moment was when he flung dollar bills in the air at McGregor and said that is all he’s worth. There were not many memorable moments in this press conference and McGregor was, for the first time, disappointing on the mic. Floyd wins round three by default because the McGregor fans were very disappointed in their fighter.
But can you really blame the fighters? They are simply running out of things to say to each other. McGregor left everything he had out on the stage in Toronto and Floyd does the same speech every time. This press conference had nothing but cursing, racists jokes, a dollar bills flying in the air.
The Mayweather-McGregor press conference seems to have run its course. The first two days were electric and built up a lot of hype. The third day was the complete opposite. Expecting the fighters to bring something new to the table four days in a row is unrealistic so it should come as no surprise that the press conferences are getting stale.
The fourth and final stop on the world tour will be in London on Friday. Hopefully for those fans’ sake, the fighters deliver much better and bring the hype back to the upcoming fight. The crowd should be another pro-McGregor crowd so he has the opportunity to get the last laugh before both fighters return to their camps and prepare for the showdown on August 26th.
Featured Image via Noah K. Murray/USA Today Sports
