You could stretch to make the case for cultural confusion regarding the use of "boy," but monkey? They throw bananas a black soccer players in Europe, there can't be any confusion on that. Historically, race in combat sports has plenty of complex layers. This was the one area I hoped this spectacle wouldn't turn to, but I guess that was wishful thinking. If it was pre-planned or a sales tactic it's especially gross.
I agree. Setting aside the money/publicity aspect, these press conferences are much more dangerous for Conor. The list of things he would be criticized for is much longer than what Floyd would be criticized for. This isn't a roast among friends. He can make fun of Floyd's tax problems, his illiteracy, his fighting style, etc. Sooner or later, you have to "freestyle" and that's where you can make mistakes. I don't know if Conor is simply putting on a show ala WWE or if he means any of it. But it's dangerous territory.
Yeah, I was saying it was a stretch, but what I was getting at is that I assume he's smarter than being blatantly racist like that. Obviously that's an uphill battle lol because that was an astonishingly stupid remark either way. I mean, I think if he's going to make a racial joke (god forbid...) to promote the fight and make it convincing, he would do it.....in the direction of Floyd. Not make some kind of offhand racist remark about a movie. It's idiotic, no doubt, but I don't think his intention there was to "sell the fight" if that's what we're discussing. Although, who the hell knows anymore.
Welp, the next press conference starts in about an hour. Let's see what ignorant shit Conor has to say today. I really hope he dials it back cuz I still wanna see Mayweather knocked on his ass.
fuck sake, monkey is used over here to call someone an eject or a belled. or if someone is being cheeky "you cheeky lil monkey"such bollox to say otherwise
Regardless of racist language, there will be a large segment of people that are simply uncomfortable with McGregor acting as an alpha-male in front of Mayweather. And I'm not saying that's fair. These two dudes are different sides of the same coin in terms of ego. The lead up to Pac-Man/Mayweather (most comparable example in regards to pay-per-view hype) was different because they were true opposites personality-wise.
Anyone else waiting to watch this Brooklyn press conference? This has been painful.....it was supposed to start 2 hours ago, the stream finally comes on and its just some hype man walking around the stage for like 20 minutes. Someone definitely hasn't shown up yet and they're scrambling to stall.
I'm in love with these press conferences. I was probably going to buy the fight before and now I'm 100% getting it. This shit has just been too entertaining.
Yesterday was trash. It started 2 hours late and you could tell the crowd was pissed. Conor's rant was stupid. Came out rapping a Biggy verse and it felt so awkward. Then he said he got Floyd a gift and handed him Jay-Zs new album and that felt even more awkward. Just showed how dumb it was to book 4 press conferences.
I know it's a "tour" but I can't believe they didn't put a couple more days between each event. Let them drum up something to talk about in the meantime. But yeah that last one felt strange. No amount of charisma could make that feel less awkward.
Exactly. Which is why I'm nervous about today's conference in London. After it ended in Brooklyn last night they literally had to book it to the airport and take a 10 hour flight to London. They're gonna be so wiped out its gonna be lackluster.
Can I just back track and ask if people's responses calling him ignorant and racist were based off of the headline of that link? Or the actual video referenced? They're talking shit as best as they can to get in each other's heads. Big part of combat sports. He says "dance for me boy" while Floyd is actually dancing onstage. Nothing about or referencing him as a monkey? Being that I do take racism seriously and am a fan of McGregor, where is the racism?
It was in a follow up interview, I believe. They asked him a question about Rocky III and he asked if it was the one with the gym full of dancing monkeys (it's an all black gym). I don't think he said it during the press conference.
Don't worry, everyone's gonna forget about Conor's possible racism after Mayweather called him a homophobic slur. Both have said some really ignorant stuff.
I only fully watched the first one, the last few caught the highlights. Some of the later ones began to feel pretty scripted tbh.
Gastelum has been performing well and while I still think Weidman is a class above him, that gap isn't as big as it seemed to be a year ago. Don't really care who wins or loses, but dropping four straight would not be a good look for Weidman at all. Pretty good card this weekend though.