Boxing legend Roy Jones Jr. doesn’t feel the same as Oscar De La Hoya about Mayweather vs. McGregor…
Forecast to take place some time this fall, Floyd Mayweather vs. Conor McGregor has everyone talking. Although details are not finalized yet, Conor McGregor has signed his contract and applied for a Nevada boxing license.
With all the anticipation about the bout, there’s been a fair amount of negativity too. Some fans, pundits and fighters from MMA and boxing feel it could be terrible for both sports.
Bad For Sport?
Both Sugar Ray Leonard and Oscar De La Hoya spoke out against Mayweather vs. McGregor last week. In particular ‘Golden Boy’ was spitting feathers about the fight, claiming it would ‘kill boxing.’
The Olympic gold medallist and former world boxing champion blasted the fight as a joke. UFC president Dana White would criticise ODLH’s motives, but then De La Hoya went on live TV and totally murdered the subject.
Roy Jones Jr. Has a Different Opinion
Speaking to MMAFighting.com, boxing legend Roy Jones Jr. did not tow the company line on this subject. Although he doesn’t like McGregor’s chances of winning, RJJ says he likes the idea of the fight itself:
“Floyd is in the business of knowing what people want to see and he gives them what they want to see,” Jones Jr. said. “And they pay for it, because it’s what they want to see. So why would they not do that? It would be crazy not to do that.”
“Being a fighter, I can’t hate on neither side, because I understood why they want to do it and I wanted to do the same thing,” Jones Jr. said. “Me and Anderson wanted to do the same thing a couple years ago.”
“Of course I’m gonna watch it,” Jones Jr. said. “I want to see how much preparation Conor McGregor did, how seriously did he take it. Did he just do it to score a pay check or did he really go out there and prepare and try to win the fight? I want to see. That would let me know something. That would tell me more about Conor McGregor as a person. I love him as a person so far, but if he goes out and truly [tries to win] the fight, that would tell me more about him.”
“That’s what Conor is saying,” Jones Jr. said. “He’s willing to risk his life to go out there and take a shot at Floyd Mayweather. That’s saying a lot to me. So for me, I cannot hate on anybody who’s willing to risk their life to go and prove their point.”
“Great event,” Jones Jr. said. “Not real sure how competitive the fight will be. For me, whatever he said about it, I could have said the same thing about the Pacquiao fight,” Jones Jr. said.
