Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Conor McGregor entered the third day of their world press tour Thursday to hype up their Aug. 26 superfight at Las Vegas’ T-Mobile Arena.
Having already hit Los Angeles and Toronto, Mayweather and McGregor continued eastward to occupy Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York.
The pair didn’t disappoint in their first two stops, with MMA Fighting’s Ariel Helwani scoring the first day in favor of Mayweather and the second for McGregor.
After watching Wednesday’s event, Fox Sports’ Skip Bayless and MMAjunkie’s Chamatkar Sandhu thought the two stars have already used their best stuff:
Before they traded verbal jabs, McGregor earned a knockout in the fashion category. Showtime Boxing showed him entering Barclays Center:
Rather than McGregor, the Brooklyn crowded landed the first blow on Mayweather, referencing the back taxes he owes the federal government. Helwani shared a clip of the fans chanting “pay your taxes” at the unbeaten boxer:
At one point, Mayweather showered a seated McGregor with dollar bills after calling him a stripper. The stunt made the crowd hassle Mayweather even more about his taxes, according to Sports Illustrated‘s Greg Bishop.
Sports Illustrated confirmed Mayweather threw genuine $1 bills:
During his time on the microphone, McGregor added to a controversy he created when he told Mayweather to “dance for me, boy” during their stops in Los Angeles and Toronto, per Yahoo Sports’ Ryan McKinnell. Some saw the remark as racially insensitive, and McGregor seemed to dig himself in a deeper hole Thursday.
He denied that he was racist and told the crowd he’s half-black.
“Do they not know I’m half black?” McGregor said, per MMAFighting.com. “I’m half-black from the belly button down.”
He also said he has “a present for my beautiful, black female fans” in Barclays Center before thrusting his hips in a suggestive manner, according to Mike Coppinger of The Ring Magazine.
Speaking to reporters after Thursday’s event, McGregor offered a more nuanced response to the story, per Bleacher Report’s Alex Larsen:
Mayweather and McGregor will head to their final stop on their world tour Friday in London at SSE Arena.
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