Leonard Ellerbe: Conor McGregor ‘tricked all y’all’ with Instagram training video
The Internet went crazy when Conor McGregor posted a video of himself doing some boxing training on Instagram last month. Memes showed up comparing a video of Floyd Mayweather, who looked extremely fast on a speed bag, to a plodding McGregor.
Headlines from mainstream outlets came in mocking McGregor. The Washington Post said it was “hilarious. USA Today said it meant McGregor had “no chance.” MLive.com said it was an “alarming speed difference.”
On Thursday in Brooklyn, Leonard Ellerbe said he believes the media and public were all fooled. The Mayweather Promotions CEO said during a press conference before the third stop of the MayMac World Tour that the video was merely a McGregor ploy.
“Conor McGregor is a smart dude,” Ellerbe said. “He’s a smart dude. Do y’all actually believe that footage he put out there is real? I’m just being honest. Do you honestly believe that he put that footage out there and it’s real looking the way it looked? C’mon now.
“Guess what? He tricked all y’all. Every last one of you. That he looked slow on the bag, he’s doing this and doing that. Y’all can fall for it. We’re not.”
Ellerbe said he has watched McGregor fight and, from years of experience in the sport of boxing, has a “good eye” for skill. Ellerbe believes McGregor is far better than the video he put out on social media.
“I see a guy who’s got tremendous timing,” Ellerbe said. “Tremendous timing. How he’s coming over the top of guys’ jabs and when he touches them and turns it over, and then he’s doing damage. I mean, real damage. If he ain’t knocking him out, they’re falling down. And then they be messed up.”
Mayweather and McGregor will meet in a boxing match Aug. 26 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. The World Tour finished up Friday in London after stops in Los Angeles, Toronto and here in New York.
The trash talk between both men was heated and raw. Some would even say it went too far, with racial and homophobic words flying. But the Ellerbe has not gleaned anything from the week to make him feel like McGregor is not a threat, despite the UFC champion’s lack of pro boxing experience and Mayweather’s sterling, 49-0 record.
That video of McGregor with the caption “you’ve never seen these moves” isn’t going to change Ellerbe’s mind, either.
“Nobody is falling for that,” he said. “One thing I do know, the guy can punch and he’s got great timing.”