So, Floyd Mayweather Didn’t Train For Conor McGregor?

According to Mayweather Sr, the now 50-0 legend did not see the need in working too hard ahead of his fight  with Conor McGregor

Now the dust has settled and the most lucrative spectacle in combat sports history is over, most have moved on. Not Floyd Mayweather Sr., however.

It seems that even bringing up the name Conor McGregor is enough to make the elder of the Floyds fly off the handle. Both men had their own runs ins, verbally clashing before and throughout the Mayweather vs. McGregor presser run, with the UFC lightweight champion coming off better. Mayweather Jr’s father and trainer appears to have had the last laugh, however, as he claimed that the legendary boxer was only at ‘half’ of his optimum level in the money-spinning bout.

While, with retrospect, many can point to the limited footage released of Mayweather training before the bout in comparison to McGregor as backing up Floyd Sr’s claims, it is more likely to be salt rubbing on his part.

Mayweather Sr. told Phillyvoice.com that “Money” felt no need to work hard on preparations ahead of the bout with the Dublin-based superstar:

“Floyd would have stopped [McGregor] a lot earlier if he worked even a little bit,” Mayweather Sr. told Phillyvoice.com. “Floyd did not train for that fight – he literally whupped that boy, that’s what he did. Just imagine if my son would have prepared and would have trained the way he [normally] would for a fight, he would have stopped [McGregor] even sooner.

“What the world saw was only 50 percent of what my son is capable of doing. Yes, you can say it – it was like he literally came off the street to beat that man. That’s how good my son is. That’s basically it. I used to run with my son, but we haven’t ran together in a long time. As far as I’m concerned, he didn’t run for this fight. Floyd didn’t put all of what Floyd could do in the McGregor fight.”

An “unnamed” member of Mayweather’s camp also backed up Sr’s claims:

“Floyd hit the speed bag or did a light run, but he spent more time promoting the fight and at his businesses than preparing for McGregor,” he said. “There’s no way around it; Floyd is a genetic freak. He’s been fighting so long that things just come naturally to him. All this social media stuff about McGregor going 10 rounds with the best in the world is (expletive). It’s actually the other way around: A 50-percent version of Floyd Mayweather came off the street and pounded one of the world’s best MMA fighters and hardly trained to do it. It says how much better Floyd is than McGregor.”

It is extremely unlikely that Mayweather Jr. would have neglected training as he is known for his strict dedication to fitness and keeping himself in shape, even in retirement. The 40-year-old is one of the hardest working men in boxing history. There is a catalog of footage which can easily be found online of the Grand Rapids-native running throughout the night in the warm desert heat of Las Vegas or punishing himself with grueling workouts in the early hours of the morning.

McGregor, ironically enough, had put in a massive amount of work for the bout yet indicated signs of fatigue towards the end of the third round. The Irishman’s camp was dedicated, for once, to training for just one discipline in comparison to his standard MMA camp for UFC bouts. While he had a comprehensive conditioning and dietary regime, McGregor still looked unprepared and unconditioned, despite being, at 29, 11 years younger than his opponent.

Mayweather Sr’s claims may be hyperbolic exaggerations, but there may certainly be an element of truth to them. Mayweather Jr., despite the pre-fight niceties and fight hype, never feared McGregor as a threat. “The Notorious” may be a formidable force in MMA, but he never was a boxer. “Money” is without a doubt the greatest fighter of his generation and has dispatched legends of the sport, monsters in comparison to McGregor, with relative ease. While the fight may have looked a promising prospect to McGregor fans, there was never any hope of Mayweather losing to those who know him well.

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