How Can You Hate Mayweather And Love McGregor?

Floyd Mayweather has a lot of fans. But over the years "Money" Mayweather made millions off people who simply couldn't stand him. Every time Floyd stepped into the ring, tens of thousands tuned in hoping to see the undefeated fighter take his first loss. 49 have tried. 49 have failed. But over a decade, his detractors have had the same 3 criticisms, "He ducked fighters," "He's boring" and "He's too cocky/flashy."

I'm going to ignore the claims of Floyd's fights being boring as it's impossible for a fighter as dull as they claim to be the highest paid, most watched, most sought after athlete of our era.

With that being said, lets address the grievances one by one:

1. People say Floyd ducked the toughest opponents of his career. Not only is this untrue but now they cheer for a UFC fighter who left two divisions in disarray to chase the same 40 year old retired boxer they accused of ducking opponents. Has Conor fought the best at 145 or 155? Has he faced the #1, #2 or #3 contenders in either division? No. He was given the title based off popularity and bypassed fights with Khabib, Ferguson, Edgar, Dos Anjos and a rematch with Aldo. He also hasnt had to face any healthy grapplers (who we can all agree are his biggest threat). Instead we've seen hand picked opponents who played to his strengths. But none of this seems to matter. To some Mayweather "ducked" Manny and Conor simply doesn't have to fight anybody he doesn't want to face or actually earn title matches.

1. They say Floyd "runs" from his opponents while backing a fighter who literally turned his back and jogged/sprinted multiple times to create space from Nate Diaz. Floyd has never ran from or turned his back on an opponent. He more often stands toe to toe or even with his back to the ropes and uses his superior boxing skills to make his opponents miss. But once again, short term memory loss is at play as delusional MMA Fans and Floyd haters ignore one truth while pushing forward a false narrative.

2. They detest Floyd's "cockiness" but fell in love with Conor's "confidence. " McGregor fans absolutely cant get enough of his brash attitude, flamboyance and trash talk. They most likely fell in love during the McGregor vs Aldo press tour where Conor rose to stardom by becoming the most disrespectful, irreverent shit talker in MMA history. When he threw money at the camera, wore expensive colourful suits and bragged about his cars and homes, the fans loved it all. They lapped it up.

In essence, they cant wait to see their cocky, flashy & disrespectful Conor knock out Floyd for being... cocky, flashy and disrespectful. But how?

Is it because its MMA vs Boxing? No. Fans tuned in hoping to watch Floyd lose a dozen times before his opponent was a contracted UFC fighter. Was it the domestic abuse charges? No. Dozens of sports and public figures have done the same or worse and fans didn't seem to care.

Both these athletes are at the top in their respective sports. And personality wise, a non bias observer might even call this a mirror match. So, what is it that they hate so much about Floyd, a super talented, cocky, flashy black athlete but love about Conor, a super talented, cocky, flashy white athlete?

The world may never know.

Tune in August 26 to see Mayweather and McGregor face off in what will be the biggest PPV event in history and possibly the most lopsided win in Floyd's long and prosperous career. But that's a different article for a different time.