Official Conor McGregor thread (part 4) *Updated Warning in 1st Post Re:Boxing match

ooter

H8GHOTI wrote: »

Anyone listen to commentators on itv before it started? One asked the other what did he think about the weight class they were going to fight at.

Answer - Conor is the lightweight champion, so fighting at 154 lbs will be new to him and light middleweight might not suit him.

Obviously didn't do any research and realise weight classes in UFC are different.

They said at one point that Conor is used to 3/5 x 5 min rounds so he's going to struggle with 3 x 12 min rounds.

Paully D

Subcomandante Marcos wrote: »

The UFC are getting a cut of Conor's purse. That's their payment for letting the fight happen.

$40m, per ESPN.

hatrickpatrick

Paully D wrote: »

Any comments about Mayweather's faggot comment from the media etc?

Plenty. Absolutely moronic by the press. Do they honestly believe that McGregor and Mayweather aren't deliberately playing them like a fiddle to get as much publicity for this as possible? You can guarantee that behind every "controversial", "outrageous" and "scandalous" remark was a PR expert being asked "what can I say to cause the absolute maximum amount of media fallout tonight?"

Eyes Down Field

MMayweather wrote:

how did Conor cost Dana money and not cost Conor money?

The money is split between Floyd Mayweather and WME/Dana White. Conor is only getting an agreed cut of their sides share.

The touching fines are in the showtime contract which will imposed on WME and White,

Dana said it himself, His number one job on this tour his to make sure Conor doesn't touch Floyd. Because its the only thing that hurts his money.

EagererBeaver

Mahony0509 wrote: »

Mayweather wearing sunglasses inside like a fkin eejit

McGregor did the same literally the previous night.

Was out for dinner and have just caught up. What a load of complete and utter ****, from everyone involved. That goes for all four nights too.

John_D80

Still Ill wrote: »

McGregor coming out rapping, shouting out to Biggie and giving Mayweather the Jay Z album really reminded me of this..

"See that film last night?" "Denzel Washington? He's not my favourite actor of all time by the way. My favourite actor of all time is Mister Sidney Poitier."

I've yet to come across a thread on any discussion forum that wasn't improved by ''The Office'' references.

Never wrestle with pigs

He asked for khabib in Russia after the presser. How is he thinking of the next fight all reddy? Ha

Gamebred

Wouldnt be surprised now if he goes into promoting in the future, he nearly had the o2 booked out to do a show when he ''retired'' so McGregor promotions will be his job into his late 30s.

Alanhooly

wonderfullife wrote:

Post-presser-presser. Erm. Conor taking questions.

Conor comes across so so much better here than the actual press conferences

wonderfullife

MMayweather wrote: »

Ali was charismatic and quick, Mcgregors is very serious and has an edge to his comments.

Ok wow.

I'm a fan of Ali, don't get me wrong, but he had a very dark, sinister edge to him - both in fight promotion and in his personal life. He could be a nasty prick when he wanted to be. History has been kind to him and it will be kind to Conor too but back in Ali's day he said some awful stuff and did some terrible stuff.

The first thing he asked Sugar Ray Leonard at their first dinner together: "how long before a fight do you stop having pus*y?", no "hello how are you?". He called the great Joe Louis "a shuffling Uncle Tom". He derided Floyd Patterson as a "white man's negro". He ridiculed George Foreman saying "he fights for white America and pork chops". He guaranteed Joe Frazier he'd kill him stone dead.

Then there was that infamous Playboy interview when he gave his views on interracial sex:

"A black man should be killed if he messes around with a white woman. If a black woman messes around with a white boy, then she dies. Kill her too!"

Followed by telling David Frost white people are to blame for the sins of homosexuality.

In the lead-up to the Rumble in the Jungle, he was on dictator President Mubutu's yachts shagging every woman in sight. He had 4 wives, cheated on all of them, had at least 10 children he legally acknowledged and another dozen claiming parentage.

He left one of his wives for a 15-year-old girl he was illegally sleeping with and married her when she turned 17.

Anyway, my point: amid all the one-line quotes we have of Ali there was a ton of dark stuff during his career. Conor may not be able to rival him for truly great quotes and quick-wit but he's not far off and is basically a saint in comparison.

John_D80

wonderfullife wrote: »

Ok wow.

I'm a fan of Ali, don't get me wrong, but he had a very dark, sinister edge to him - both in fight promotion and in his personal life. He could be a nasty prick when he wanted to be. History has been kind to him and it will be kind to Conor too but back in Ali's day he said some awful stuff and did some terrible stuff.

The first thing he asked Sugar Ray Leonard at their first dinner together: "how long before a fight do you stop having pus*y?", no "hello how are you?". He called the great Joe Louis "a shuffling Uncle Tom". He derided Floyd Patterson as a "white man's negro". He ridiculed George Foreman saying "he fights for white America and pork chops". He guaranteed Joe Frazier he'd kill him stone dead.

Then there was that infamous Playboy interview when he gave his views on interracial sex:

"A black man should be killed if he messes around with a white woman. If a black woman messes around with a white boy, then she dies. Kill her too!"

Followed by telling David Frost white people are to blame for the sins of homosexuality.

In the lead-up to the Rumble in the Jungle, he was on dictator President Mubutu's yachts shagging every woman in sight. He had 4 wives, cheated on all of them, had at least 10 children he legally acknowledged and another dozen claiming parentage.

He left one of his wives for a 15-year-old girl he was illegally sleeping with and married her when she turned 17.

Anyway, my point: amid all the one-line quotes we have of Ali there was a ton of dark stuff during his career. Conor may not be able to rival him for truly great quotes and quick-wit but he's not far off and is basically a saint in comparison.

There is an epidemic of ''rose tinted glasses'' syndrome when it comes to Ali. People just find it hard to accept that he was a mean nasty fúcker.

tinpib

gilmour wrote: »

My own meaningless guess is going back to Toronto the other night when Floyd said "I'm saving something about you, about you and the females", i found that Conors reaction to that being very very telling that Floyd actually had some dirt on him.

After Toronto, Conor was meant to go onto the Showtime panel with Paulie, Schab etc. He walked straight out, so a few mins later Floyd goes on.

Instead of continuing with the charade they played out on stage, Floyd [to me] kinda broke the 4th wall and was saying it was just a performance on stage. He actually came across very well and down to earth in the interview.

He was asked straight out by Schab what he meant by that comment above about the girls and Floyd said, and I couldn't believe this, "I've got nothing on him. I just said that, I'm a counter puncher, he threw out something and i hit back." or words to that effect I haven't watched it again.

A 14-year-old would have said "Oh just you guys wait!"

So I'm sure Conor knew that he was just bullpoohing as well.

It's in this clip here.

wonderfullife

John_D80 wrote: »

There is an epidemic of ''rose tinted glasses'' syndrome when it comes to Ali. People just find it hard to accept that he was a mean nasty fúcker.

Yep and to be honest we see that trend repeated across multiple sports, especially in these shores. You can be a model pro, good player and good person like a Ken Doherty or a Damien Duff but we always seem to gravitate towards tragic heroes like Alex Higgins or Georgie Best.

Best in particular was a serial cheater, domestic abuser, alcoholic but history will wash a lot of that away and we'll be left eulogizing about his charisma, flair and genius on the pitch.

Personally I think Conor is actually a really decent guy with nowhere near the dark side of an Ali.

JJayoo

So Conor put his hands on Floyd, although it was nothing could it have a consequence in regards to stipulations in their contracts

gitzy16v

wonderfullife wrote: »

Yep and to be honest we see that trend repeated across multiple sports, especially in these shores. You can be a model pro, good player and good person like a Ken Doherty or a Damien Duff but we always seem to gravitate towards tragic heroes like Alex Higgins or Georgie Best.

Best in particular was a serial cheater, domestic abuser, alcoholic but history will wash a lot of that away and we'll be left eulogizing about his charisma, flair and genius on the pitch.

Personally I think Conor is actually a really decent guy with nowhere near the dark side of an Ali.

Ah yeh I do agree with you but Alex Higgins and George Best were the greatest in their respective sports...Ken and Damien...nah not so much.

I think to be the best,people end up being ruthless and piss off a lot of others on their way to the top.(edit)....When they have exceptional talent they get away with much more.

Conor is no angel and I do agree that in 50 years time a lot of his indiscretions will be forgotten and people will eulogise him just like Ali,Best,Higgins et al.

As time goes by people tend to remember sporting achievements over personal problems...its up to Conor now to make sure he's remembered for the right reasons.

gitzy16v

JJayoo wrote: »

So Conor put his hands on Floyd, although it was nothing could it have a consequence in regards to stipulations in their contracts

I doubt it...he rubbed Floyd's head nothing more

Neil3030

In hindsight, it was very naive to assume these guys would have enough material to sustain four consecutive days of a circus act. Although, the four conferences can probably be condensed into a handful of highlights (mostly in Toronto), and this is really all the marketers of the fight need to feed the hype machine. That said, I hated the format of the fighters walking around like a pro wrestling promo, and I would have preferred to see more questions from journalists guiding the conferences to give the whole thing just a touch more authenticity. I also think they ultimately failed to give any impression that there is real conflict between these two guys, which is essentially flunking fight promotion 101.

gilmour

tinpib wrote: »

After Toronto, Conor was meant to go onto the Showtime panel with Paulie, Schab etc. He walked straight out, so a few mins later Floyd goes on.

Instead of continuing with the charade they played out on stage, Floyd [to me] kinda broke the 4th wall and was saying it was just a performance on stage. He actually came across very well and down to earth in the interview.

He was asked straight out by Schab what he meant by that comment above about the girls and Floyd said, and I couldn't believe this, "I've got nothing on him. I just said that, I'm a counter puncher, he threw out something and i hit back." or words to that effect I haven't watched it again.

A 14-year-old would have said "Oh just you guys wait!"

So I'm sure Conor knew that he was just bullpoohing as well.

It's in this clip here.

Yeah i seen that interview, though with Mayweather you honestly cannot take anything he says at face value, it could well have been a game of Floyd thinking "Well if i go there, i know hes going to bring that subject up". The other thing i remember thinking back on it was that Floyds statement to Conor came after Conor brought up the fact that Floyd couldn't read. But it was his reaction to Floyd even suggesting it had something to do with the females that surprised me, he looked to be fuming and immediately got agitated.

But Floyd hit him with the race card so who knows. Its all irrelevant anyway really because if we were to go through the personal lives of legendary fighters of the past and judged them on domestic violence and cheating etc we would be left with very very few clean heroes.

Judge them for what we came to know them for, what they do in the ring and octagon.

wonderfullife

Neil3030 wrote: »

that said, I hated the format of the fighters walking around like a pro wrestling promo, and I would have preferred to see more questions from journalists guiding the conferences to give the whole thing just a touch more authenticity. I also think they ultimately failed to give any impression that there is real conflict between these two guys, which is essentially flunking fight promotion 101.

I agree with the first point but at the same time...

Press tours are a complete anachronism IMO - regardless of format. In the 1970's with Ali or 1980's with Tyson etc it made sense to put on a few press conferences in different cities because the public and media in the different cities wouldn't have been exposed to the previous night's shenanigans.

I.e. The fighters could repeat the same material every night like a comedian doing the same set, but it would come across fresh in each city.

In 2017 that just doesn't fly anymore with youtube, social media, on-demand television, fans and media will have watched the first one and be expecting some new material when it reaches their city.

As for the conflict element - and this is just my opinion - I don't think Conor ever really transmits any sense of conflict with any of his opponents until fight week. I don't even think I can name a single opponent he truly despised.

Take, for example, the very first press conference with Eddie Alvarez about, what, 9 weeks before fight night? I didn't get any real vibe of animosity between them at all. In fact, Conor was in the process of saying "I like Edward" before Eddie said "take those stupid glasses off".

Where Conor excels is in ramping things up dramatically during fight week between open workouts, weigh-ins, stare-downs etc. I can't remember a boring fight week of Conor's - even the "zen" mood he was in during Aldo fight week was interesting and ended in an intense face-off.

So, I personally wouldn't deem that element a failure. Their job was to generate front-page headlines and insane traffic on the internet and from that standpoint, the Tour was a Home Run success. Come fight week I'm positive both men will ratchet up the intensity.

wonderfullife

At 1:57:12 Conor smacks his left hand off the table and immediately winces and keeps looking back to his hand.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R7lQN1Bre-Q

In the immediate interview Conor gave after the presser, he kept his left hand underneath the table for the entire 15 mins. He even opened a bottle of water under the table at 9:17 below.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t3TfoH5Fx8k

Andrew did a really good interview with Conor below but if you notice Conor is clutching an empty mug in his left hand which is highly unusual in itself. Even more unusual he doesn't really move his thumb for the whole 5 mins of the clip.

I'm only speculating here but it looks to me like he jarred his left thumb badly off the table.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=19RuqMNKGbk

killwill

wonderfullife wrote: »

At 1:57:12 Conor smacks his left hand off the table and immediately winces and keeps looking back to his hand.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R7lQN1Bre-Q

In the immediate interview Conor gave after the presser, he kept his left hand underneath the table for the entire 15 mins. He even opened a bottle of water under the table at 9:17 below.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t3TfoH5Fx8k

Andrew did a really good interview with Conor below but if you notice Conor is clutching an empty mug in his left hand which is highly unusual in itself. Even more unusual he doesn't really move his thumb for the whole 5 mins of the clip.

I'm only speculating here but it looks to me like he jarred his left thumb badly off the table.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=19RuqMNKGbk

His watch clasp opened after hitting the table. Looks like nothing.

StringerBell

I'll look at the vids tomorrow but I remember it live and thinking that he must have damaged his watch cause he kept looking down to his hand and fidgeting, or as the poster above has pointed out that his clasp possibly opened. It seemed to be a simple palm on the table, hard to see how he hurts himself there

wonderfullife

StringerBell wrote: »

I'll look at the vids tomorrow but I remember it live and thinking that he must have damaged his watch cause he kept looking down to his hand and fidgeting

Edit - Seems consensus opinion is he mangled his swanky watch and not his hand

Was wondering if he'd spin up to Glasgow to support Gunni and Charlie but appears he's already gone to Vegas.

wonderfullife

Most interesting part of the day that went under the radar:

Dana was asked about Conor's future and gave this answer...

"I talked to Ari Emanuel the other day, Conor McGregor is a huge part of this company and, believe me, we're going to make him feel like it (regarding new contract etc)".

Shares in the company?

Dozyart

I cant wait for everybody who was so broke up about Conors supposed racism to get just as hurt at Floyds actual homophobic comment.....or will it be a sudden case of "ah it's only words" now!!
People were putting their own spin on what way "boy" was meant...but you cant spin out of someone being called a f****t!!

everlast75

....

Outlaw Pete

The Jimmy Kimmel YouTube channel have removed the video with him referring to dancing monkeys in Rocky III now.

Pathetic.

Wonderfulife seems well informed. Great reading!

zuutroy

wonderfullife wrote: »

Their job was to generate front-page headlines and insane traffic on the internet and from that standpoint, the Tour was a Home Run success. Come fight week I'm positive both men will ratchet up the intensity.

Their job was to sell PPVs and I'm not sure the whole tour will be better than break even in terms of swaying people. Personally, despite being a McG fan and having been at 202, I'm less likely to bother getting up for it than I was this time last week. They completely failed to hide the undertone of 'I can't believe my luck' all week.

Eyes Down Field

Subcomandante Marcos wrote:

The UFC are getting a cut of Conor's purse. That's their payment for letting the fight happen.

I believe it's the other way around. Conor is getting a cut of the UFC's purse. Conor is under contract with the UFC, The UFC did a deal with Conor and then Dana met with team Mayweather. Floyd, Al Heymon and Leonard Ellerbe to make the actual fight deal.

Conor was not involved in thoes meetings, He said himself that the first time he ever met Floyd was on the stage in LA.

Paully D wrote:

I don't disagree with your theory. Perhaps an agreement that they won't go there regarding females or "extra curricular activities", which probably suited both. Though I am sure that Floyd's racism card move probably brought Conor very, very close to going there.

Any revelation about "extra curricular activities" would hurt Conor far more than it would hurt Floyd. Things that Conor wouldn't want his woman to know about. Floyd would have connections in all the major hotels and casinos in Las Vegas. It wouldn't surprise me if he has some dirt on Conor that could be very damaging.