Floyd Mayweather Jr. came under fire following a press conference in London on Friday where he called his upcoming opponent Conor McGregor a homophobic slur. The two had been going back-and-forth delivering verbal beatdowns toward one another all week as they traveled the globe to promote their Aug. 26 pay-per-view boxing match. Conor had previously ignited racial tensions when he told Floyd, “Dance for me, boy!” And then Floyd took it a step further by calling Conor a “fa***t”.
A representative for Mayweather gave a statement to TMZ:
“The reason Floyd called Conor the F word is because Conor called Floyd a monkey. Floyd has nothing against gays or lesbians at all … Floyd has them on his staff. Floyd has nothing but the utmost respect for gays and lesbians.”