Floyd “Money” Mayweather is bothered by some of the comments UFC Lightweight Champion Conor McGregor has made in the past.
In the lead up to their highly anticipated boxing match, McGregor has said some things that may have crossed the line when it comes to race.
During their world press tour, McGregor once called Mayweather “boy.” McGregor also claimed that he was half black. Also, during an appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live, McGregor was compared to Rocky from the movie “Rocky 3” and asked if that was the movie with “dancing monkeys in the gym. “Rocky 3” is the movie where Rocky trains in an all-black gym.
“I just didn’t like when he called us monkeys,” Mayweather told ESPN. “I think that was totally disrespect. He called us monkeys. I didn’t like it. It didn’t push a button to make me jump out of my character and go crazy, but I didn’t like it.”
“I just thought about all our different leaders,” Mayweather continued. “Martin Luther King, Malcolm X. They went on the front line for me and my family and all my loved ones. Like I said before, this stuff still goes on. But I’m strong, I’m smart, patient. And come Aug. 26, I’ll be the same person — smart, strong, patient. And the same way he called us monkeys, we’re gonna see if he say that Aug. 26.”
Lastly, Mayweather was asked if McGregor’s racial remarks have impacted his training for the fight.
“No different,” Mayweather said. “But this is for a cause. This is for the American people. This is for all the blacks around the world.”
