Ever since former heavyweight contender and Foreman/Liston/Ali victim Chuck Wepner 'inspired' the Rocky series, actor Sylvester Stallone has been synonymous with the fight game.
The 69-year-old was inducted into boxing's coveted Hall of Fame back in 2010, but five years previous, he joined the iconic Sugar Ray Leonard in co-hosting NBC's boxing reality series The Contender - a pugilistic spin on The Ultimate Fighter which also debuted in 2005, and was originally produced by the same company.
Stallone was recently asked about the ongoing nonsense that is a hypothetical Conor McGregor - Floyd Mayweather crossover fight, and amidst his total dismissal of such a notion, he recalled a phonecall he received from the UFC president 11 years ago while he was fronting The Contender:
Dana White called me and he said, 'Why don't we have The Contender guys fight the UFC [The Ultimate Fighter] finalists?'
And I said, 'It wouldn't be fair. If it's a boxing match, your guys get slaughtered. And if it's a full-on UFC fight, our guys get decimated.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=--_TG2XJBqc
While it's difficult to understand the logistics of White's proposal, it's probably fair to say it's not something he'd campaign for now were The Contender still on air alongside its MMA counterpart, particularly in light of recent BS-talk of a Notorious-Money showdown.
As a boxing promoter who once represented the legendary Aaron Pryor, Stallone's own views on such a fight are entertainingly dismissive, with the Expendables star telling Kat of Kat Tales TV:
I really think Conor McGregor is a good fighter. He's a great fighter in his own speciality... Mayweather will be facing first degree murder charges. It wouldn't even be fair.
You cannot take a guy who is a genius boxer - one of the best of all time - and expect to 'catch up'.
H/T: FightsDay
