Conor McGregor Finally Responds To Floyd Mayweather’s Fight Challenge

Conor McGregor finally responded to Floyd Mayweather’s challenge to fight him, and he did it in typical Conor McGregor fashion. McGregor was attending the first professional boxing bout of fellow Irishman Michael Conlan in New York Friday evening. Following Conlan’s third-round knockout victory, McGregor seemed to be amped up and confident as his temper propelled him toward the press to give a statement.

According to Yahoo Sports, Conor singled out ESPN.com boxing writer Dan Rafael before starting his rant. Like many people who provide coverage for boxing, Rafael had previously stated that should the McGregor/Mayweather match come to fruition, he expected Floyd to walk away the winner. McGregor apparently had heard the rumblings and wanted to make sure Rafael was put in his place.

“Watch me take over boxing, trust me on that. No one in this boxing game knows what’s coming. Trust me on that. I’m going to step in there and shock the whole g****** world. Trust me on that,” McGregor said, continually lurching forward aggressively. “Look me in the eyes, 28 years of age, confident as a *******, long range, dangerous with every hand. Trust me, I’m going to stop Floyd and you’re all going to eat your words. The whole world is going to eat their words.”

As other reporters attempted to ask Conor questions, he simply yelled “I’m out of here! I am boxing!” while pushing through the crowd.

The build up to a fight between Floyd Mayweather and Conor McGregor has been going on for months. As previously reported by Inquisitr, the UFC star and retired boxing champion have been trading verbal jabs on social media repeatedly.

While Conor McGregor kept insisting the fight would happen, he never really seemed to put things in motion to make it happen. Though McGregor obtained a boxing license, it was in California, not Nevada where Mayweather is licensed. And Conor continued his quest within the UFC to be the first person to hold two titles at once.

Many speculated that Dana White wouldn’t let his rising star risk injury by fighting Floyd Mayweather. At one point, White joined in, offering both Mayweather and McGregor $25 million to meet up for the super fight. While Conor was probably salivating at the opportunity considering it was substantially higher than any amount he’s made as a UFC fighter, Floyd laughed at the notion he would accept less than a quarter of what he made during his last fight.

For a short period, Mayweather was distracted by the feud between Chris Brown and Soulja Boy, supposedly helping to set up an actual boxing match between the feuding musicians. But last week, Floyd Mayweather seemed to reach his peak level of frustration with Conor McGregor, telling several members of the press, “I’m coming out of retirement just to fight Conor McGregor.”

Mayweather accused McGregor of using his name as nothing more than a means of promoting himself and said he was tired of playing games. Once again, many speculated that Dana White would wedge himself between Floyd and Conor and stop any momentum, however White flipped the script last week.

According to Maxim, Dana White thinks the fight will indeed be set and he’s okay with letting McGregor pursue the big payout.

“I do think it’s going to happen. I think it’s going to be a tough deal, there’s obviously a lot of egos involved in this deal and a lot of people so that always makes it tougher,” White told the press. “On the flipside, there’s so much money involved, I just don’t see how it doesn’t happen.”

Several news outlets began reporting at the beginning of the week that the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas was put on hold for a match in June between Floyd and Conor, though neither confirmed the details.

While the world waited to hear of a set date or if Conor McGregor would even accept the fight, others speculated that June would be too early for the Irishman. Apparently, McGregor and his girlfriend Dee Devlin are expecting their first child in May. Those who are familiar with Conor McGregor’s fight camp routine know that he likes to bring the camp to the city he is fighting in well in advance to adapt to the environment. Some analysts felt like September would be a more realistic goal for the Mayweather/McGregor matchup.

All of that being said, however, though Conor seemingly confirmed that he would eventually fight Floyd Mayweather with his rambling rant this evening, until the contracts are signed and a date is confirmed, it’s hard to know if McGregor is just blowing a bunch of hot air.

[Featured Image by Steve Marcus/Getty Images]