By Keith Idec
Conor McGregor made sure Friday night to thank his fans for helping him come so far in such a short amount of time.
McGregor reminded the capacity crowd at Wembley Arena that just a few years ago, the UFC superstar competed in a mixed martial arts match in London that drew approximately 500 fans. The Irishman was referring to a first-round knockout of Steve O’Keefe in February 2012.
A crowd of over 10,000 attended the final press conference Friday night for his August 26 showdown with undefeated Floyd Mayweather Jr. at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
“We are six weeks out from the biggest fight in sporting history,” McGregor said. “And I’m 29 today. Twenty-nine years of age. Four years ago – I wanna speak to everyone in the crowd. Four years ago, I fought in London at a place called the HMV Forum, in front of about 500 people. Four years ago.
“Now here I am, six weeks out, about to quadruple my net worth with one half a fight. I’m in shock every day I wake up. Half a fight. Let’s get that right. I get to quadruple my net worth for half a f*cking fight. Sign me up! You mean no one’s gonna kick, no one’s gonna knee, no one’s gonna elbow? And I get this little grillhound bitch?”
If Mayweather-McGregor indeed breaks boxing’s pay-per-view record of 4.6 million buys (Mayweather-Manny Pacquiao), McGregor might make more than $100 million for his first professional boxing match. McGregor appreciates that just a few months ago most media and fans dismissed the chances of this fight ever taking place.
“It’s what gets me going,” McGregor said during a question-and-answer session after the press conference. “It’s what motivates me. They all tell me, they all try and laugh at everything. They try and mock me. It’s been happening me whole career, so it’s just something that motivates me to keep going, to conquer the unconquerable, to show that anything is possible. You know, we’re all able to do anything.
“Like I said to the crowd here, four years ago I was fighting at a place here in London called the HMV Forum in front of 500 people. That was four f*cking years ago. Now I’m here and I’m about to take part in this billion-dollar fight. I’m about to smoke this fool and we’re here doing 20,000 people at a f*cking press conference. So if that doesn’t show you that anything is possible, then I don’t know what does.”
Their press conference Friday night marked the end of a wild, whirlwind tour to promote their Showtime Pay-Per-View bout. Before finishing up in London, the tour began Tuesday at Staples Center in Los Angeles, continued Wednesday night at the Budweiser Stage in Toronto and made the third stop Thursday night at Barclays Center in Brooklyn.
Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.
