Bernard Hopkins, the former undisputed middleweight and light heavyweight champion, has come out against the forthcoming Floyd Mayweather against Conor Mcgregor.
Mayweather has been in retirement since 2015. He still remains the biggest draw and perhaps most skilled fighter in the sport though. McGregeor meanwhile is a comparative complete novice when it comes to pure boxing. Hopkins has been particularly critical
It’s for this reason that Hopkins has been particularly critical of the matchup, believing that McGregor should not be allowed to face someone of Mayweather’s calibre.
Despite protest, the fight will still go ahead though. Mayweather and McGregor are scheduled to meet in late August in Las Vegas. Both fighters will be in line to earn in excess of $100 million from the bout.
Hopkins though remains incredulous that a McGrgeor, a man with only limited amateur boxing experience, should have the ability to challenge an undefeated master pugilist such as Mayweather in his first professional contest.
The fact that an athlete from another sport can jump the cue to earn the all-time biggest payday in the sport is something that especially irks Hopkins.
Hopkins stated:
“This is all fake news. First of all, he hasn’t fought an amateur fight to my knowledge. I’ve checked around and I’ve been around the game for a long time.”
“He hasn’t had any experience as an amateur or a professional. How does any commission, in Vegas or anywhere, give him a license to fight a guy like Mayweather, who is one of the icon guys of our era.”
“How does he get that chance? Boxing should not let, we should not let, the people in.”
“How does he get that chance? Boxing should not let, we should not let, the people in business of boxing should not let a person to just walk right in and get the grand prize of boxing. You can’t do it in basketball, football, hockey. It ruins the credibility [of the sport].” Mayweather has no problem allowing McGregor to make a record amount of money. He views McGregor as a credible opponent – although nearly every expert has listed the MMA superstar as a massive underdog. Hopkins believes Mayweather is sending a bad message by going along with the fight. “That shows you the lack of respect that he has for the sport,”
“That shows you the lack of respect that he has for the sport”
Harsh words from the legendary fighter. Do you agree wit him?