Boxer Beefs with Conor McGregor Then Apologizes
Boxer Beefs with Conor McGregor Then Apologizes
Boxer Chris van Heerden launched into a Twitter beef with Conor McGregor then apologized the next day.
By Jim Edwards
Conor McGregor was probably expecting to be the recipient of a few harsh words this week, but it's likely he thought they wouldn't come his way until the UFC 202 press conference taking place this Thursday at the MGM Grand.
Last evening, the trouble appeared to have started early this week for the Irishman when the former IBO and IBF welterweight boxing champion, Chis van Heerden took to Twitter to voice his disgust at a video that been released by the McGregor camp yesterday.
The video was produced and edited by McGregor's Official YouTube channel, 'This is The Mac Life', and was published yesterday attracting over 60,000 views. The six-minute video shows both McGregor and van Heerden sparring in a gym in Los Angeles and it appears that van Heerden was unimpressed with the editing of the session and took to his social media to vent his frustration:
"When you have to Cut & Edit a video clip to putting pieces together to look Good It show me your Real Character #ISleepPeaceful #DoYou?"
Seemingly, it only took VanHeerden a night of sleep to get over it and within less than twelve hours of the tweet being published, he deleted it and apologized in another tweet saying:
"After a Good sleep you all made me think!! I Apologize for my Tweets should have kept it to myself Conor .M did me a Fav in the End #Sorry"
The South African is one of a whole host of new training partners brought in by the McGregor for his training camp ahead of his rematch with Nate Diaz at UFC 202 in August. McGregor has previously quoted as saying he's not a fan of training with people outside of his immediate SBG gym in Ireland, however, for this camp, the Irishman has looked far and wide across both the boxing and jiu-jitsu scenes.
In addition to bringing in the likes of Dillon Danis (BJJ Blackbelt), Robbie Hageman (K1 champion) and Makwan Amirkhani (UFC featherweight), van Heerden was said to have been brought in especially to train with McGregor due to his similar style and dimensions to Diaz as a long, lean left-handed boxer. Furthermore, McGregor has also drafted in Conor Wallace, a multiple-time Irish national boxing champion, to put in some rounds at SBG.
Prior to the series of events last evening, van Heerden had previously spoken about McGregor's boxing skills and had suggested that while Irishman has a sound technical boxing base, he still has areas in which he needs to improve.
"Conor comes with a boxing background. I was surprised how well he could handle it. His boxing is really not bad. I'd say after a full training camp where the focus is 100% boxing, he might just shock a lot of boxing fans," Van Heerden told Fight Hype.
"I'd say he needs work on his footwork. Placing of feet and balance and knowing when to throw the right punch; not just throw anything out there. He has a very good eye for timing and counter punching. I can tell you this, he will give a few boxers out there a really good go."
He later added about McGregor's power: "We were sparring with 16-ounce gloves. It's like pillows (laughing), so it's hard to tell. I was not at any point shocked. Maybe I did expect a little more power."
McGregor will next be in the public eye on Thursday this week when he and Nate Diaz will meet face-to-face at a UFC 202 pre-fight press conference. Expect fireworks and expect a lot of them.
Conor McGregor was probably expecting to be the recipient of a few harsh words this week, but it's likely he thought they wouldn't come his way until the UFC 202 press conference taking place this Thursday at the MGM Grand.
Last evening, the trouble appeared to have started early this week for the Irishman when the former IBO and IBF welterweight boxing champion, Chis van Heerden took to Twitter to voice his disgust at a video that been released by the McGregor camp yesterday.
The video was produced and edited by McGregor's Official YouTube channel, 'This is The Mac Life', and was published yesterday attracting over 60,000 views. The six-minute video shows both McGregor and van Heerden sparring in a gym in Los Angeles and it appears that van Heerden was unimpressed with the editing of the session and took to his social media to vent his frustration:
"When you have to Cut & Edit a video clip to putting pieces together to look Good It show me your Real Character #ISleepPeaceful #DoYou?"
Seemingly, it only took VanHeerden a night of sleep to get over it and within less than twelve hours of the tweet being published, he deleted it and apologized in another tweet saying:
"After a Good sleep you all made me think!! I Apologize for my Tweets should have kept it to myself Conor .M did me a Fav in the End #Sorry"
The South African is one of a whole host of new training partners brought in by the McGregor for his training camp ahead of his rematch with Nate Diaz at UFC 202 in August. McGregor has previously quoted as saying he's not a fan of training with people outside of his immediate SBG gym in Ireland, however, for this camp, the Irishman has looked far and wide across both the boxing and jiu-jitsu scenes.
In addition to bringing in the likes of Dillon Danis (BJJ Blackbelt), Robbie Hageman (K1 champion) and Makwan Amirkhani (UFC featherweight), van Heerden was said to have been brought in especially to train with McGregor due to his similar style and dimensions to Diaz as a long, lean left-handed boxer. Furthermore, McGregor has also drafted in Conor Wallace, a multiple-time Irish national boxing champion, to put in some rounds at SBG.
Prior to the series of events last evening, van Heerden had previously spoken about McGregor's boxing skills and had suggested that while Irishman has a sound technical boxing base, he still has areas in which he needs to improve.
"Conor comes with a boxing background. I was surprised how well he could handle it. His boxing is really not bad. I'd say after a full training camp where the focus is 100% boxing, he might just shock a lot of boxing fans," Van Heerden told Fight Hype.
"I'd say he needs work on his footwork. Placing of feet and balance and knowing when to throw the right punch; not just throw anything out there. He has a very good eye for timing and counter punching. I can tell you this, he will give a few boxers out there a really good go."
He later added about McGregor's power: "We were sparring with 16-ounce gloves. It's like pillows (laughing), so it's hard to tell. I was not at any point shocked. Maybe I did expect a little more power."
McGregor will next be in the public eye on Thursday this week when he and Nate Diaz will meet face-to-face at a UFC 202 pre-fight press conference. Expect fireworks and expect a lot of them.