Conor McGregor vs Floyd Mayweather: Lennox Lewis slams ‘ridiculous’ fight as boxing legend says: ‘I can’t take it seriously’
Ex-heavyweight king says it is 'ridiculous' to put arguably the greatest boxer of the modern era against a fighter from a different sport
LENNOX LEWIS has slammed Conor McGregor's combat showdown with Floyd Mayweather, insisting he "can't take it serious".
Boxing's last undisputed heavyweight champion believes it's "ridiculous" to put arguably the greatest boxer of the modern era against a fighter from a different sport.
Five-weight would champion Mayweather and two time UFC champion McGregor meet at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas on August 26.
The cross-sports fight that will be governed under boxing rules with Mayweather coming out of retirement after almost two years away from the ring to take Ireland's McGregor, the biggest name in MMA.
But Lewis, who beat the likes of Mike Tyson and Evander Holyfield, isn't impressed by all the hype.
Pay-per-view hits could top five million, but Lewis old the: "I can’t take it serious.
"Mayweather is the best in his weight class, no one can touch him in boxing.
"He’s a pugilist of the highest order, so for another man from a different sport to fight him? It’s just ridiculous to me.
"You are talking about one discipline where you can use only your hands and only a few can do it.
"Every battle sport starts with your hands but they are two totally different sports."
Lewis can see only one winner - Mayweather by a knockout.
"McGregor is too inexperienced at boxing," he reasoned.
"Floyd will stop him. He’s just too good at boxing for McGregor, who is too inexperienced at boxing. He can’t use his other styles.
"I wouldn’t buy it on pay-per-view – but I would be interested in the result. To me, I know who is going to win already, so there’s no point in watching it.
"I don’t believe it would damage boxing because it is always going to be about a man wanting to fight another man – and people will always want to know the result.
"I love Bruce Lee and the other disciplines and, when he fought against other fighters, you wanted to see the differences. I can see the appeal."
WBC president, Mauricio Sulaiman said he was thinking about making a one-off diamond belt for the fight and Lewis is not against the idea.
He added: "I’m not against sanctioning it for something like the Diamond title. Of course, this is a WBC board decision but we have to celebrate that boxing is having world attention regardless.
"Mayweather retired as champion so he was awarded the champion emeritus status. He was great, an icon for the sport.
"Now he has decided to return and fight a mixed martial arts superstar, so it is difficult to evaluate."