Floyd Mayweather: Conor McGregor has advantage ‘on paper’

Following a promotional tour full of bragging and boasting, Floyd Mayweather took a far humbler tone in an interview with Stephen A. Smith, telling the ESPN personality that Conor McGregor has an edge over him ’on paper.’

“When you look at myself and Conor McGregor on paper, he’s taller, has a longer reach, he’s a bigger man from top to bottom,” Mayweather told Smith on Tuesday. “He’s a lot younger, so youth is on his side. And I’ve been off a couple of years. And I’m in my 40s. So, if you look at everything on paper, it leans toward Conor McGregor.”

Mayweather, once the pound-for-pound boxing king, is coming out of retirement at age 40 to take on the 29-year old McGregor, the reigning UFC Lightweight Champion. 

With a career record of 49-0, Mayweather is widely considered a heavy favorite heading into the Aug. 26 bout, as McGregor has never competed in a professional boxing ring.

Nonetheless, on Tuesday Mayweather insisted that he’s well beyond his prime.

“I lost a step … I’m not what I used to be,” he told Smith. “It’s obvious I slipped somewhere. Something has taken a toll on my career … I didn’t say I couldn’t fight. I just said I’m not the same Floyd Mayweather I once was.”