For those keeping score in the obnoxious publicity tour between boxer Floyd Mayweather and MMA fighter Conor McGregor: Mayweather called McGregor a “faggot,” while McGregor supposedly called the boxer a “monkey.”
Mayweather tried to defend his use of the gay slur by pointing out McGregor’s racist comments. A rep for Mayweather told 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."
It’s now OK to use a slur against anyone who uses a slur themselves? Yeah, that will convince absolutely nobody.
(The faggot comment was captured on tape, while the monkey remark was heard off-mic by people in the area, TMZ said.)
McGregor, oddly, said people taking offense at the faggot remark are being sensitive.
“People are so touchy on words. It’s absolutely crazy,” McGregor said. “If he said that, I couldn’t give a (expletive). I think what he was trying to do was to switch it up and get the people back in his favor. I think it was a bit of a (expletive) move to try and instigate that on me.”
Let’s be clear — both these guys are assholes and I find it amusing that people are trying to justify reasons to root for either in their Aug. 26 fight.
This weekend, Outsports got slammed by some people after my story highlighted Mayweather’s gay slur. They thought I had ignored the racism, which I hadn’t; we’re an LGBT-oriented sight, which is why the gay slur was noted.
At the same time, I saw gay people saying they were rooting for McGregor because of the gay slur. Neither fighter deserves respect and they’re certainly not getting any pay-per-view money from me.
