Chris Snan, Staff Columnist~
When someone says, “Dream Match,” who else would come to your mind right now besides Connor McGregor and Floyd Mayweather?
Well, this “Dream Match” is now the biggest fight of the year – maybe even the century. This Sunday, live in Las Vegas, two of the best fighters today, and arguably ever, go head-to-head. Fighters love their money, but this fight isn’t all about the money anymore.
Recently, in a Jimmy Kimmel interview, McGregor was asked about the iconic Rocky movies, specifically the third one. In response, McGregor asked if that was the movie with the “dancing monkeys in the gym.” The gym he is referring to, where Rocky trained, was an all-African-American gym, and this is where the problem comes up.
Mayweather, who is African-American, clearly was not pleased with this comment and according to the website for Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) fighting, he opened up and stated, “I think that was totally disrespect … He called us monkeys. I didn’t like it.”
Mayweather then claimed that this fight is now “for all the blacks around the world.” In a way, this fight has just now become personal and for a cause, aside from making money. Race is always a controversial and sensitive topic. An argument can escalate very quickly; imagine how a fight would go when race is thrown in there.
Mayweather vs. McGregor was set up to be a one-of-a-kind, intense and very physical fight. This issue just made everything about the fight that much more intense. Sunday makes for a great day to be a fan of boxing, and now only one question remains: Who’s the better man?