FLOYD MAYWEATHER’S MEETING with UFC champion Conor McGregor is “a circus” and WBO welterweight champion Jeff Horn is confident he would beat either man in the ring.
The pair will clash in Las Vegas on Saturday for a showdown that has dominated the headlines since it was officially confirmed in June.
Neither Mayweather nor McGregor have been shy in throwing verbal barbs in each other’s direction in the build-up, but many experts have questioned the validity of the contest given McGregor is taking part in his first competitive boxing bout.
And Australian Horn, who stunned Manny Pacquiao in Brisbane in July, is among the fight’s detractors. Horn is expected to face Pacquiao in a rematch in November.
“It’s definitely a bit of a circus,” he told Omnisport. ”Unfortunately, these guys are getting paid massive money and others are getting paid a lot less and they’re a lot better fighters.
“Mayweather is a legend of the sport and he should take the fight down easily. It’s not a must-see fight, that’s for sure. If you’re interested in UFC or boxing you want to see your sport win. I know a lot of people don’t want to see it and are not interested because it’s such a circus but I’ll definitely be tuning in and hopefully boxing will win.
“It’s definitely not fight of the century, far from it, there are much bigger fights. The Golovkin-Canelo fight [in September] is an absolutely massive one that everyone should be watching. Some people I know don’t want to see boxing and UFC mix because it’s silly. Boxing is going to win pretty much every time.”
Despite that opinion, Horn would be happy to take on McGregor, and laughed off the notion that Mayweather does not know who he is.
“I’d definitely consider fighting McGregor, I’d beat him and he wouldn’t be able to bully me in there,” Horn said. “I’ve got the boxing skills that would tear him apart.
“I’ve got the boxing ability to be able to beat Mayweather. They’re calling me my wife’s name, my wife’s Jo Horn, she can beat me in a fight, that’s for sure!”
Seems to be fairly grounded. Best of luck to him!
Wow. That closing piece of advice is powerful for a 16 year old. I like him already.
Not going to be popular but gaa is the main reason Ireland isn’t producing more professional sports people. Nothing against gaa but young kids are playing a sport they can’t make a living from when they may make a career from another sport with the same input.
@Harry Trafford: that is of no fault of the GAA to be fair. It’s up to the FAI to attract these young players to their product…every country faces the same issue, sports competing with other sports to attract young participants. Ireland is no different.
@Harry Trafford: not everything is about money. For some playing gaa and having a good job etc is enough for them. They play the sport and can obtain legendary local status. For others it’s about chasing huge wads of cash in a more commercial industry overseas with huge failure rates. Retire & play golf & grow a beer belly. Different folks, different strokes. As long as you’re happy. That’s the main thing.
@Ottomaaan: I agree the FAI need to pull the finger out. Ireland have some of the best sports people in the world right across the board. Just the article mentions a career in GAA but it’s an amature sport, all be it played with a professional attitude.
@Ronan McDermott: a career in sport isn’t all about money, not everyone makes massive wads of cash only the very small majority. I’m not referring to just becoming a footballer. You can make a decent wage in most sports at a professional level.
@Harry Trafford: I hear you. Not disagreeing with you as such. Lots of sports have salary caps etc. By being involved with gaa you could have a very good job arranged with a sponsor etc. So technically you’d still be making money with a company that’ll work around your schedule.
@Ronan McDermott: very small minded, being a top footballer against the billions that play or the the top hurler against the 100s that play
@tubbsyf: I’m not small minded at all. Different folks, different strokes is all I said.
“Stay committed to doing it. Don’t go over there and think you’ve made it. You’re only playing 18s football. You haven’t made it anywhere yet, so keep your head down and keep working away.” Sounds like Roy Keane got to him.
I think this is a story the GAA need to be cery cognisant of. The way the competitions are set up now you only have a few counties who are ever likely to win anything with back doors, super 8′s etc making it almost impossible for one of the “smaller” teams like wicklow to hold onto or encourage their best players to stick with the support. The constant push for revenue generated by the biggest counties making finals is seeing the players from the top counties putting in even more effort in the knowledge they might win something while concurrently you have teams from weaker counties who are saying upwards of 40 players are refusing to come into their County set ups.
@Dino Baggio: This is vividly highlighted in Munster where they seed the draw to have Cork and Kerry in the football final every year even though Cork are at best the third best team in Munster and the likes of Limerick footballers are struggling to get players to commit. The drain of players to pro sports is going to get worse unless the Gaa address this issue.
Only just came across this article. Conor was with Mill Celtic from the age of 11 before joining Newbridge Town at 13. He was in the KDUL Academy from 11 and played inter league at u 12 and u 13. Not sure where the only playing soccer since 14 is coming from
Bully Beef?