Conor McGregor caused some controversy on Tuesday afternoon during the first stop on the promotional tour for his Aug. 26 fight with Floyd Mayweather. As the two fighters argued on stage, McGregor yelled "Dance for me, boy! Dance for me, son!" at one point:
The fact that McGregor told Mayweather to dance for him coupled with the fact that he referred to Mayweather as "boy" rubbed a lot of people the wrong way. Floyd Mayweather Sr. attempted to downplay McGregor’s comments after the press conference, but clearly, McGregor’s choice of words did not go unnoticed:
Charlamagne Tha God even made McGregor his "Donkey of the Day" after hearing what he said:
But McGregor didn’t seem to mind the backlash he faced following the press conference, because he called Mayweather "boy" again on Wednesday when the Mayweather/McGregor promo tour took a trip to Toronto. While talking trash to Mayweather, he yelled "Dance for me, boy!" for a second time:
It prompted even more outrage from those watching at home:
The first time it happened, Mayweather more or less ignored McGregor. But after the second time, he was asked by TMZ Sports to give his thoughts on McGregor’s decision to use the word "boy" while speaking to him. Mayweather said he doesn’t have an issue with it, but if you want to read between the lines, it seems pretty obvious that Mayweather is going to remember what McGregor said when they get into the ring together. Here is Mayweather’s full response:
Racism still exists, but I try to take something negative and turn it into something positive. We all know there’s only two types of boys—a white boy and a cowboy—and I’m not neither. I’m just joking.
This isn’t the first or last time race will be brought up during the buildup to the Mayweather/McGregor fight. As far back as December, Mayweather Promotions CEO Leonard Ellerbe said that race was going to play a big part in the fight were to take place. And ever since Mayweather and McGregor started throwing shots back and forth at one another in early 2016, race has been at the center of their feud.
You would think that McGregor would steer clear of calling Mayweather "boy" for a third time when the promo tour hits Brooklyn’s Barclays Center on Thursday afternoon. But at this point, McGregor doesn’t seem to care who he is offending, so it wouldn’t be shocking to see him do it again.
