Floyd Mayweather addressed claims Conor McGregor had made regarding his ‘small’ stature on Tuesday night’s press conference in Los Angeles
From the perspective of a boxer who has never tasted defeat in 49 fights, with his last defeat as a fighter coming in the most bizarre of controversial decisions in the 1996 Olympics, size does not matter.
With the majority of observers from the world of combat sports struggling to build a strong case for how McGregor, an MMA fighter, can beat a boxer who is arguably the greatest to have ever done it, the subject of size is raised. McGregor has taken advantage of the perception that there is a gulf in the stature between him and his opponent:
He’s too small,’ McGregor told media members in a smaller press conference following the event at Staples Centre on Tuesday. ‘He’s too small! I’m just telling you, he’s too small, too frail – his little legs, little core, small head – I’m just telling you the truth.’
Both men are expected to weigh in at 154 pounds ahead of their blockbuster boxing bout on Aug 26. with McGregor standing at 1.75 m to Mayweather’s 1.73. The Irishman has a reach advantage of 2 inches at 74 in total, while “Money” boasts 72 inches. Not a massive size difference, truth be told.
Mayweather, ever the shrewd businessman and promoter, focused on building up McGregor’s attributes and skills rather than knocking them down:
‘He’s a standup skillful guy. I’m a skillful guy. But everything is leaning toward Conor McGregor. He’s younger, he’s taller. He has a 74-inch reach and I have a 72-inch reach and he’s active and I’m inactive.’
And as for any perceived strengths in McGregor’s minor size advantage, Mayweather closed the case as cool as you like:
‘Well last time I checked, it’s not about being too small or too little, it’s about skills.’
You can watch the full clip of the interview with Floyd Mayweather Jr. at the top of this page (via MMAFighting).
