Laila Ali doesn’t want to see Conor McGregor vs. Floyd Mayweather

Another day brings another boxing great who does not wish to partake in the madness that is Conor McGregor versus Floyd Mayweather.

Laila Ali (24-0), retired professional boxer and daughter of the legendary Muhammad Ali, can now be added to the list of boxers who do not wish to see Conor McGregor versus Floyd Mayweather anytime soon.

On Friday night’s edition of ESPN’s SportsCenter, Ali was asked her thoughts on the possibility of the fight between McGregor and Mayweather taking place. At first, Ali seemed to brush off the question in a playfully annoyed manner, but went on to give an opinion that is shared among much of the combat community.

“That honestly is not a fight that I want to see per say because I just am a boxing purist being a boxer myself and I’m not into seeing people who aren’t boxers come into the sport and try to fight one of the best fighters ever,” stated Ali.

Going beyond the potential Mayweather fight, Ali even went further to say that she doesn’t think McGregor stands a chance against other boxers.

“I don’t even think that he would fare well against some of the other guys that are on the scene right now. I don’t even think he can beat Manny Pacquiao,” said Ali.

It is interesting for Ali to speak on the Pacquiao angle seeing as how boxing promoter Bob Arum recently stated that Manny Pacquiao would be a great substitute for Mayweather in the event that the originally slated bout between he and McGregor falls through.

Despite a different fight being offered, Ali isn’t giving McGregor a chance in the boxing ring. Like many before her such as Mike Tyson and Oscar De La Hoya, it is difficult to see how an MMA fighter can find success in boxing when they can no longer use tactics such as leg kicks to win a fight.

This isn’t the first time that Ali has contested the idea of an MMA fighter being more successful than a boxer in a fight. She has ripped former women’s bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey plenty of times on her striking, especially after her stunning knockout loss to Holly Holm at UFC 193.

Striking in MMA is different from striking in boxing, which is why Ali doesn’t believe that anyone can come into the sport and think they can beat everyone, as McGregor has done.

Because of this, Ali purely sees this as an opportunity to make money, which she is not in support of either.

“I get it. People do things for money but I’m just not with that. I’m not one of those people who just goes with the ‘okie-doke’,” said Ali.

Although Ali isn’t the biggest fan of this fight happening, she is willing to watch it if it does get created.

“I mean if they fight, if they make it happen, hey we’ll see. I’ll be watching. I’m not going to say I’m not going to watch it.”